


Lullaby's Chronicles

by MadKingAsh



Series: Fake AH Crew of Remnant [1]
Category: RWBY, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-13 12:27:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5708092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadKingAsh/pseuds/MadKingAsh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an Original Character based story I wrote with a friend of mine based on an AU where the Fake AH Crew exist within Remnant. This work features their OC, and multi ones I created. This work happens before any of the events in the show RWBY but is based in their world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunters or Criminals?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter and I appreciate feedback.

There is a girl, the daughter of a gang member, sitting in public school like any other kid, her eyes a deep blue, hair long and the color of roasted wheat, the brindle ears of a dog neatly hidden under a grey beanie. She sat staring into space, twirling her favorite red pencil, not even giving thought to the class around her. Her mind was wandering towards the future, after school, why school was important, it wasn’t if she were to follow after her father, at least in her opinion, but if fate lead her elsewhere then maybe this would be worth it. She wasn’t sure yet, she could go on to train to be a huntress, she had the weapons and skills thanks to her family training, but then she would likely have to fight the ones she cared about the most. Even if she chose the lawful path of life, it wasn’t as fun as night heists and there was less control in it. You were restricted by laws and rules, ones she’s never listened to before, so why start? She’d never be able to stand up to the corrupted “decent” people that ruled her kingdom and whose offspring tormented her and her family. It pissed her off… and scared her, being under the thumb of people like that. Being a huntress also opened many doors like travel, she could go anywhere. Anywhere without her family, just the thoughts of being alone made her shake and cause her heart to race. She yipped, startled and jarred from her thoughts as the bell releasing the students to lunch rang. She quickly packed away her scare notes and pen before going to meet her boys, the future would have to wait.

They weren’t hard to find usually, the lads were a loud mismatched group of humans and faunus. There was Michael, clearly the loudest, his nature much like the grizzly bear for which his ears descend, they sat sticking out from his curly mop of brown hair, brown eyes always lit with fire. Though he could be cuddly as a stuffed bear if you knew how to get to him. There were the twins Gavin and Zach, both rare avian Faunus. Gavin was bird-brained with a nose much like a beak and his brother is pretty smart, though he lacks in the strength department. They were both blond, with greenish blue eyes like the sea.Gavin’s hair is short and styled while Zach’s hair is much longer, but almost always tied in a low, relaxed ponytail. Their wings were golden feathers that matched their hair, but completely different in build. Gavin’s were much stronger and he could fly faster and longer, due to flown more as a child, when Zach was binding his wings and trying to hide who, and what, he was, and as such Zach’s wings were stunted slightly and he must use wind dust to assist him with flying for longer than an hour or two. Gavin, much like his wings, is the stronger of the two, ironically, since his clumsy nature often causes him to be seen as a fool (not to mention he looks like a string bean). Then there was Ray, the darker skinned human of the group, laid back and seemingly lazy, known for his sarcastic joking nature and never giving two shits about anything anyone has to say about him. Don’t get him wrong though, he may not care about himself, but mess with anyone he cares about and you’ll learn why grown men fear and respect him. And finally, while not technically a “lad” there’s the youngest of this little group, Iris Lullaby, who goes by just Lullaby.

Today’s lunch was like any other, the boys were already at their table, Gavin trying to peddle food off of Michael, his wings practically engulfing him. She was still trying to shake herself free her thoughts on the future as she approached the table when she felt a small breeze from her head, stopping her dead in her tracks, her beanie was gone, ears perking up from the sudden freedom of movement, everything became just a bit louder and she froze, fully aware of every noise, every eye on her. The blood drained from her face and she started to shake. Obnoxiously loud laughter sounded from behind her ,”See i told you she was a fucking animal!”, More laughter, tears started to sting at the corner of her eyes.   
Suddenly she felt a hat on her head causing her to jump from the contact, grateful for the cover, “Ya know, you guys should really just disappear…” a quiet voice said in a lazy tone, Ray looked down at Lullaby, “Come on Lull, let's sit with the others.” The creeps quickly scattered, they’d heard rumors before, there were always rumors, they weren’t about to risk those ones being true. Lullaby quickly relaxed color returning to normal as she followed her older friend back to their table, she plopped into her usual seat, next to her savior, with Zach on her left.  
“I wish we really could get rid of jerks like those”, she sighed, pulling out the homemade lunch her father put together.   
“...You know we actually can make that happen, right?” Gavin joked.  
“You guys have nothing to lose, your seniors and have already decided what you're doing, getting expelled would be to much of a pain… But we totally could, or we could rob them blind”, she smirked ,“And before you ask, no you can’t have my food either”  
“You say that like we plan on getting caught.” Michael added. “ No one would know it was us.” He was far too okay with murder for anyone's liking, other than Ryan.  
“You all want me to starve don’t you!”, Gavin pouted, trying to look as pathetic as possible. Lullaby sighed, she always caved and gave him at least a few bites by this point but her appetite had been dampened by worries and cruel bullies and slid it over to him.  
“I give, you win, I was snacking last hour anyways”, she sat and chatted for a little while longer before excusing herself with an excuse of needed to make up a test and went to class. Ray’s eyes followed after her with a mixture of curiosity and worry. They then began silently discussing that night's heist.

She got halfway to her next class before the overhead speakers crackled to life ,“Iris Haywood to the counselor's office”, She was confused and turned, altering her path to take her to the office, she had done nothing but it still worried her. Could it finally be something to do with the jerks who constantly messed with her, then why call only her? The remainder of recent events caused her to fix her hat. She came to a halt outside the wooden door, now was her last chance to turn back and pretend that she hadn’t heard her name, and so she turned to leave when the door opened.  
“Come in Miss Haywood, we have been expecting you”, So much for getting away now, she was trapped, if it weren’t abnormal she’d run. Lullaby resigned herself and stepped into the room allowing the young assistant to lead her back into her counselor's office. Sitting with the short man was a fox-tailed hunter and his partner, a dark skinned human.  
The faunus stood and smiled warmly, Lullaby’s eyes widened with recognition, This faunus was no other than Rust Bracken, the greatest faunus hunter to come from Mistral, and that human is his partner Rob Azure. Why were these two here to see her? She had always done her best to seem average in strength and skill. Her stomach was starting to turn, she wished Ray or Zach was here, they always managed to put her at ease.  
“Please have a seat”, he motioned to the cushioned office chair and she immediately obeyed, stiff, on edge and pale ,”Please relax, we only want to talk. Is it alright if I call you Iris?”  
“L-Lullaby, I-I go by Lullaby”, She cursed herself for stuttering and letting her mind get the better of her ,”How may I help you?”  
“Have you ever thought about becoming a huntress Lullaby?”  
So that was why, she relaxed in a single sigh, they were here to recruit her. She admitted that it had been on her mind recently and the conversation took off from there. The hunters knew of her father’s business, they didn’t know her and the boys helped, Rust told her she didn’t need to follow father’s path. They discussed travel and opportunities, the pro’s and con’s. Rob gave her packets and phamlets on schools in Mistral and beyond. They told her to think about it and dismissed her just after the bell rang signalling the end of lunch. She stuffed everything she was given into her backpack and hid it away to deal with later and hastily made her retreat from the office. Her head was spinning more now than before and she just wanted the day to be over as she hurried on her way.

The rest of the day thankfully passed in a blur, Lullaby knew when she say the guys she would have to explain why she got called up, that wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to, it was impossible to lie to them. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t try, Ray without a doubt would be able to tell but maybe he wouldn’t dig. She could also leave before them but that would only raise suspicion and either get her tackled by Michael or dive bombed by one or both of the twins. She pulled Ray’s hat down as far as it would go, she didn’t want to lie but she didn’t want to see or know their reactions. Gav and Zach ran over to Lullaby.  
“Yo, we heard your name get called, what happened?” Zachie asked.  
She quickly fixed her hat to its normal position “just a stupid credit check ya know?”  
“Wot for? Your grades are better than most of ours!” Gavin asked, fluttering his wings a little.  
“Speak for yourself idiot.” Zachie playfully muttered.  
She shrugged and decided to change the subject “Where’s Ray and Michael?”  
“ Teacher made them stay behind.”  
“Alright, sucks for them, let’s go, I've got homework, my favorite past time”, she pushed off from the poll she was leaning against and headed for home. Gavin wrapped his wings protectively around each of them as they went, possibly sensing the tension subconsciously. Lullaby smiled at the warmth of his wings and was glad her lie was working for the moment. The walk was filled with Gavin’s usual babble, though usually fueled by Michael’s easily riled nature, it was lacking on this evening. Soon this would all change and it scared Lullaby even though she tried to push the thoughts far from her mind but she could never shake it whenever anyone was missing, she couldn’t quite relax. She looked the sky, it was starting to get dark and the air get colder, winter was her least favorite season, she couldn’t wait for spring, but she also dreaded it’s approach. Lullaby tilted her head back to pay attention to her movements, the mansion they called home visible in the distance.  
As they approached the giant front gate the intercom buzzed with a voice.  
“Who goes there? State your business.”  
“the police, we’re here to search the place”, Lullaby couldn’t help the sarcastic answer   
“And you better have Fritos!” called Gavin. The girl on the intercom sighed with disdain   
“You losers again. Just get lost, we don't need anymore strays!” she joked  
“Aw, but I heard you had the best cooks!”, As Lullaby spoke she remembered it was her turn to cook and opened the gates for them. “I heard they’re making lasagna tonight too!”  
“Love you too, Tugg Life!” Zach called blowing a kiss to the security camera.  
“HOLD THE DOOR!!” A voice yelled after the closing gate. And just seconds before it shut, Ray and Michael slid in, gasping and panting for air.   
“Fuck...you… Ray,” Michael said between labored breaths, “I won… definitely, won.”  
“HAH! Like hell!! I won, my legs are longer! Guys, guys who won?” Ray was also out of breath, but was much more energized. He looked to Lullaby and the others to confirm the winner.  
“Ray definitely won, and as the winner he get’s first helping after me!”, She headed for the front door and she could hear the hearty chuckle of the cuddliest gang member as she flung it open ,”We’re home!”

She headed into the front room and immediately froze, the hunters were sitting there casually chatting with jack like they were best friends. Rust looked over and smiled waving and giving a greeting to the group of students. Lullaby quickly backed out on edge and sputtered out an excuse of homework and rushed herself into her room, completely ignoring her father attempt at hugging her, leaving everyone confused and concerned. She dropped her bag and flopped on her bed, there was nothing more concerning than seeing people who should be complete enemies sitting and having a cup of tea. She waited till she heard Rust and his partner leaving before she ventured back downstairs. She had been up there at least an hour, she lipped into the kitchen and started prep, dinner was going to be late thanks to those hunters. Lullaby tried to concentrate on making dinner but as soon as everyone saw her come down they had to follow and figure out what her problem was. She lied (mostly) saying she was startled by a major role model for faunus people just casually sitting having a nice chat when by all normal circumstances they would of been fighting. Jack then explained that the lads had caught their attention, they had talked about a possibility of going to train to be huntsmen, Lullaby practically dropped her knife.  
She desperately looked at them “Y-You guys aren’t considering it are you?”   
Gavin shrugged,  
“ why not? It sounds fun.”  
She looked down and didn’t reply, she continued to work on the meal. She was trying to grasp this, her boys weren’t only graduating but now not only that they might be leaving her completely. Ray walked up and started helping her with the food.  
“We’re not going anywhere…” he whispered in his usual quiet tone, not really looking at her, just focusing on the food. Zachie caught on quick and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
“It'll be ok Lull. We'll figure it all out together. You're an important member of this team. What choices we make, we make together.”, She nodded in acknowledgement but her throat still felt tight, she didn’t trust her voice but she did feel better with their reassurances, and even if they did leave, she had no doubt she’d follow them, she’d follow them to hell and back, she glanced over at Ray, especially that nerd she thought before focusing back on the task at hand.   
Geoff sighed with exhaustion. “Alright let's leave the cook to her duty and somebody set the table. We'll discuss the rest of this mess over dinner, like a non-criminal family for once. As crazy as that sounds…”  
Lullaby snickered and helped Geoff shoo everybody out of her space. The boys were all seniors, finishing up their final year, Lullaby was the tiny freshmen, Gavin and Zach were her older brothers, by bond not blood. Michael met the twins when they were in junior high and Ray just sort of appeared in their life two years ago, he’d always gone to school with them but he just blended into the background. That was something he has always been good at. Each and everyone of them were members of the Fake Achievement Hunter Crew, a gang that ruled the underground of Mistral. The gang was led by three older gentlemen. The boss was Geoff, the father of Gavin and Zach. Geoff's right hand man is Jack, a cuddlier bearded man, and Geoff’s left hand man Ryan, who is Lullaby’s father. Ryan could go from murderous maniac to suburban dad in a matter of seconds. They were all human, but loved their faunus partners and children. They started started this gang to get rich and have fun with this short game called life, their logic is you only get to play once so why not make it worth wild.

When dinner was ready Lullaby brought out the dish and served everyone. Now would be the best time to tell everyone what really happened in the counselor's office.  
“Alright listen.” Geoff started. “I may be about to sound like an old ass piece of shit, but i see all five of you like my own children. And as much as i want you to follow the path I have made for you… I want each of you to follow your hearts more… Even if that means leaving the crew. Though i hope to God you come back! I'll accept whatever path you take.” He had said his peace, and now he's staying the hell out of the rest, otherwise he may cry. Though he'd never admit that!  
“Honestly you guys are the best group of kids we could of asked for, your life is your own, I just hope you don’t get yourselves killed, whether it’s here with us or out there fighting Grimm and stopping the true criminals of this world”, Jack smiled not afraid to let his tears show ,” You all are the closest I've come to having my own children so if you do leave you better come back with grandchildren i can spoil!”  
“You think I'm gonna wait that long to see them again Jack?! They must come home every holiday, or we'll go to them!” Geoff said sternly as Jack laughed. Ryan quietly looked over the lads and his daughter, examining each of them closely.  
“.... Be sure and use your heads, if you can really leave this world you’ve been immersed in, some of you since birth, then i encourage you to, but if you can’t you all know we’ll welcome you back with open arms. Don’t force yourself to be something you're not. If you can’t take the bullshit of ‘law abiding’ citizens then being a hunter will never be for you.” He sounded like he was talking from experience., his eyes lingered on everyone for a few second longer before digging back into his lasagna “this is great baby-girl!”  
The five of them sat in silence, soaking in their words, it was weird to hear some of that. Zachie was the first to speak ,“ I don't know what I want… I don't want to leave all of you, but I need to see more of the world. I need to experience life!”  
Lullaby bit her lip ,“you guys know i’d end up following you no matter what, right? When i got called to the office Rust and his partner were waiting there…. They talked to me and gave me a bunch of shit for Academy’s in all of the kingdoms…. I...” Michael continued to pick at his plate, lost in thought, so Gavin spoke up instead.  
“Well X-Ray and I always wanted to be heroes! Now's our chance! And Lulla, you can write all about our adventures! And be part of them too! Our sidekick, professor Z’s!... Get it, because lullaby and sleep?...”, The shitty pun went unrewarded.  
“Shut up and stuff your beak bird brain”, She huffed, not appreciating getting called a sidekick, although the idea of writing a story with them as heroes was a good idea.  
“I'll give you a ‘side kick’.” Zachie said as he kicked Gavin out of his chair.  
Ray was just as quiet as Michael. Both unsure if they could give up this lifestyle.  
“We…. We can't all stay? I don't want us to split up, anymore than I know the rest of you do. We're still just kids for fucks sake! How do we expect ourselves to make good decisions alone? I mean…. Together…. We actually make a logical train of thought.” Ray let it all flood out, then returned to nibbling and thinking about his next statement.  
“please excuse me…” Lullaby quickly dismissed herself, stomach doing somersaults, she retreated quickly to the safe haven of her room and threw open the window to get fresh crisp air. So much for the team she thought, they were scattered by one thing. Something that would decide the rest of their futures. She broke and the silent tears started flowing and she couldn’t hold them back anymore, she sat by the window and just let it out, body shaking from the overbearing waves of emotions.  
There was a soft knock on the door. She yipped in surprise followed by a soft whimper ,”please, don’t…”  
“It's me.” Michael said, in a surprisingly calm voice, but there was a slight crack to it. Lullaby quickly wiped at her tear and sniffled opening the door to let him in, face red and puffy.  
Michael's eyes were also slightly red, but the tears would not fall, not until he entered her room.  
“ Only you…” was all he could say. But she knew what he meant, only she could see him cry. He had to be strong for everyone, but for her, he could be weak, he could let it out. She locked the door and quickly hugged him tightly, her tears starting up again.  
“why did those stupid hunters have to pick us… They have their pick of any students… So why? Do they just want to see The Crew destroyed? Do they want to break us apart…..?”  
“No… I won't let that happen. I won't…. Maybe…” he paused, “ Maybe they're not tearing us apart, but testing our bonds… Making us stronger…” He held her close. “You're my sister in every way but blood, I fucking love you like one! I won't let this break us. We… we'll figure it out. We still have time, graduation isn't for a few more months.”  
She nodded ,”We’ll figure it out… That’s the only choice we have….”, She sniffled ,”Wanna go burn some shit….? Or we could get everyone together for at least one more heist”  
He nodded, “Burn some shit tonight, heist this weekend. That way there's no school bullshit in the morning. We can even break into those asshole’s house that Ray told us about.”   
“sounds like a plan Mogar!”, She smiles up at him ,”I have the perfect materials” she grabbed her backpack and pulls out the pamphlets.  
“Let's get Ray too, he could use it.” Michael pulled out his scroll and sent ray a text. ‘BURNING SOME SHIT!! COURTYARD NOW!’  
Lullaby was already out her window by time Michael finished sending his text and climbing her way down to the yard. Michael jumped out and nailed the landing, running ahead to the empty fire pit. Ray showed up a few minutes later with some school work and twigs yelling “420!!!” with a stupid grin, requiring Lullaby to stifle a giggle. They both agreed, loud Ray was best Ray. She started setting up the fire to burn long and hot, she didn’t care if she didn’t get any sleep because she was playing pyro. She should of brought her homework down as well, since it clearly wasn’t getting done, she was also thankful for the dark lighting, Ray didn’t need to see her face after a good cry. They all danced around the fire, sacrificing papers and whatever else they could think of to the fire's glow, while singing made up chants that really meant nothing at all. They stayed like this long into the night, with Ryan watching from his bedroom window, a small smile on his face. Lullaby was starting to feel the effects from the lack of sleep and crying in the small hours of the morning, no longer able to silence her yawns and eye rubbing. She continued to refuse to go to bed at their requests, but didn’t fight when they eventually carried her inside. In her half asleep state she muttered something about them not leaving her. The three of them slept together on the couch in a cuddle puddle, eventually the twins came down to see what the fuss was and joined the cuddles.

The blaring sound of a air horn quickly jolted the pile of teenagers awake, Ryan standing over them ,”you're going to be late”   
Michael roared his displeasure “Fuck off Ryan!” He covered his ears and rolled onto Gavin's wing.  
“Noooo...:”, Lullaby cried weakly cuddling into Ray  
“I’m filling the bucket with ice water!”, They could hear the faucet turn on, Lullaby quickly shot up shouting that she was indeed very much awake. Unfortunately, Gavin, Zach and Ray were still sleeping through all this. Michael got up fast, smiling at what was about to happen to Gavin.  
Lullaby scrambled out of the way just as Ryan was back into the room with the bucket. He heaved it and dumped it on top of the still sleeping three, an evil smile plastered on his face.  
The twins shot up making noises that could only be described as distressed birds. Gavin sounded like he'd swallowed a bunch of rocks while Zachie’s were more like short squawks.  
Ray shot up, his voice practically going back to a prepubescent state “HOLY FUCK!!!”  
Michael and Lullaby couldn’t stop laughing at their friend's distress, they look like half-drowned animals, clothes sticking to their skin. Ryan was proud of his handiwork and went to put the bucket away. After they all recovered the students retreated to their rooms to change and ready themselves for school. Michael was already waiting when Lullaby came down, towels sat soaking up whatever water had hit the couch and carpet. The morning had barely begun and she was already exhausted, this was going to be a long day. They were really going to be late if they didn’t hurry up, Lullaby suggests leaving them if they weren’t down in the next minute, and so they did. If the others wanted to walk together they would have to catch up. Michael and her made small talk and planned the fine details for that weekends heist. The trio caught up with with them about halfway, out of breath and ticked about being ditched. 

Waiting for them just outside of the school grounds was the nuisances themselves, Rust and his ever present partner. They looked bright and cheery, it pissed Lullaby off. Rust waved at them and walked into their path, cutting them off.  
“what do you want?” Lullaby snapped ,”we’ve got classes to get to”  
Rust was surprised by the sudden fire in Lullaby, She was completely different then the quiet nervous wreck that he met yesterday. This told him a lot about her ,” Well as much as i love being home and playing nice with leaders of the underground, I’d really appreciate an answer from all of you before we leave next week”  
“You can shove your offer right up your-”  
“HA! Gaaaaaaay!”, Ray interrupts Michael’s crude statement.  
“Come on guys, it’s cold! I'm freezing my feather off!”, Gavin shoved them forward and Rust stepped out of the way and called after them  
“I’m not giving up on you five, we’ll talk later!”

In the next few days it became common for Rust to be waiting for them before and after school, each time only annoying Lullaby and Michael more. How could she think with their constant hovering and pestering, not to mention their presence had caused rumors to spread. On the plus side, incidents with the bullies had basically stopped, but, they now never had a moment of privacy since everyone wanted to know why famous hunters were bothering with them. Lullaby was at her breaking point. She snapped at Rust again and demanded they leave her and her family alone and to which Rust replied with ,”Alright, but only if you can win against us in a fight”  
The rules were simple, five against two, if Lullaby and her lads win, they’re left alone, but, if Rust wins they drop out and immediately enroll at Haven Academy. They let Rust pick the location, and that is how they ended up at Haven Academy’s training field, this was the first time the five of them had ever been there ,”Better get used to being here kiddos”  
Lullaby growls as he digs into her bag slipping on her weapon of choice, bagh naka with three small barrel guns modified to launch dust, small rounds held in bands that fit snugly on her wrists. She drops her bag, the boys fixing their weapons as well.  
Michael’s bracelets unfolded over his fists into his weapon, as some 2 foot long claws slid out into view. He fought like an ursa, using his rage to his advantage, he relied on his allies telling him when to back off in battle, as he would lose his head easily, but his trust in them never wavered. If they said “Mogar right!” he went right, they yell duck, he'd drop to the floor. Zach pulled out matching metal wire fans, folding down into a single point ford storage and damage.

Rust cracked his neck ,”I wouldn’t expect any less from you, Haywood”  
Suddenly Rob dashed forward straight into the group, swinging. Ray and lullaby jump back, taking their places as distance and support. Lullaby quickly set up the connections with her semblance, if anyone got hurt they’d know immediately, physical state was her thing. Gavin took off into the air as Michael and Zach dove in opposite directions. Rob went after Michael, Rust blinked closer, setting up some bolts, making his way behind Zach as quick as possible. Zach’s wings were still bound to his back, he couldn't undo them without his chest binder coming off too, so he was grounded. Rust paused before shooting a ice bolt overhead, aimed at Gavin, before setting a quick trap of fire bolts before continuing back towards Ray, who was currently directing Michael, the whip portion of his rifle wrapped around his arm for added stability. Rob grazed Michael, pain flaring through their senses, Lullaby took aim and shot wind rounds at Rob sending him flying back towards Zach. Rust sent more rounds towards Gavin distracting him for a much needed moment to set another few round behind Ray, he blinked back as far as he could before pressing the button setting off the rounds. Ray was knocked to ground singed but breathing.   
Zach however, was in a far worse state. The bottom of his shirt had been burned up and his feathers were singed, he had a panic attack and suddenly couldn't breathe. Rob quickly spun towards the recent explosion behind him in time to see Zach collapse, he knew his partner had it covered and quickly set to help calm down Zach ,”It’s alright, breath, breath child”  
“My- my wings! My wings!” All Zach could do was feel numb horror, what if he couldn't fly?! He couldn't hear anyone's words just noise.  
Lullaby felt Zach’s pain, more intense, more worrying than Ray’s and quickly tried to move to help him only to be stopped by Rust aiming his crossbow right at her face.  
“Do you concede?”, For once Rust’s eyes were cold.  
“Of course! You practically crippled Zach! Now let us help him!”, Lullaby ran past him as soon as he lowered his weapon, Gavin landing next to his brother and trying to see what exactly how bad the damage was.  
“My boi can you hear me? Breathe, Zachie, they'll grow back i know they will!” his voice trembled and wasn't very convincing since he had no medical knowledge at all and was equally horrified over how it could have been his wings. Zachie clutched his chest, tears in his eyes, he literally couldn't breathe, his chest was too tight, could the fire have affected his binder somehow? Michael ran over worried, arm already swelling. It took Ray another minute to get up and make his way over.  
“He can’t breathe!”, Lullaby’s voice sounded like she herself was out of breath, refusing to cut her link with him ,”his binder, get it off!” Michael used his claw gauntlets to carefully tear the fabric without hurting his wings further. Rob blinked in surprise, face quickly turning red as he realized exactly what he was looking at and quickly looking away.  
“what the…?”, Rust stared shamelessly trying to wrap his head around the fact that Zach’s binder did more then secure his wings in place ,”Rob… Go get the nurse or some sort of medical professional, i don’t care call an ambulance… You.. You five stay here!”, Rust stalked off muttering to himself, heading towards the front office, Rob went to grab the nurse.  
Zachie could breath again, and his tears finally flowed from where they'd been stuck. “Am, am i okay? Th-they will grow back right? Gav, bro, do i need to use the Phoenix? Is it that bad?” He felt humiliated that both his secrets were out at the same time. All eyes were on Gavin, awaiting for his verdict, seeing as he was the only other one with wings.  
Gavin froze as he realized he had to be the smart one for once, he cleared out his throat and took a closer look at the wings. “Well… It doesn't look too bad… I mean, it was only these bottom ones at the tip and some of them on the sidey part? Err…” Everyone was staring, “Wot? I don't know the proper terminology! I got a D in biology, I just know how they work.” He sighed, “but these one's here are important for flying, they will grow back, but not till after another molting season… I'm sorry brother, but you're grounded for at least ten months.” It hurt him to say it, but he was glad that was all the damage and nothing worse.  
“well looks like you’re stuck down on the ground with us, but that’s not so bad right? Right Zach?”, Lullaby smiling at him sheepishly finally letting her connection go. Ray used his semblance to steal some of Zachie’s emotional pain away into himself, he did this quietly and as subtly as possible, like he always did for his Family.


	2. To Hunt or be Hunted?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so school starts and teams form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again advice and criticism is welcome! we'll be trying to get a chapter up at least once a week until we're finished.

Rob returned with an authoritative looking man, likely in his forties, carrying a medical bag. Lullaby had laid back and was dozing off, beanie pulled over her face, ears poking out, twitching slightly at small noises. They had put Ray’s hoodie on Zach. The nurse went over to Zach first to look at the burns on his wings, Rob continued to be silent, not looking at Zach. The nurse confirmed what Gavin had said about his primary feathers being burned badly, but the actual muscle and skin were fine. There was nothing they could do to help, it would just take time. Ray was next, his burns were merely superficial and only needed some bandages and burn ointment he was good as new. The nurse did a quick check over everyone else as well, Michael had some scrapes and there would be bruising, Gavin and Lullaby were just fine. 

It was another few minutes before Rust returned with five packets ,”Good you put a shirt on! Now your paperwork I have no clue what to put on it!”, He handed each of them a mostly filled out enrollment packet for Haven Academy ,”Once they’re signed, and yours”, He looked a Zach ,”Is finished, you’ll be enrolled for the fall”

Zach stared at the man for a few minutes, trying to figure him out. “What do you mean you don't know what to put? What couldn't you figure out? Obviously i have to fill out that I'm a faunus, even if i hide it.” He looked down at the papers.

“Just please finish putting in your Medical information, I didn’t want to fuck that shit up and have to correct it later” the non-answer was answer enough, they both understood what was being tested here.

“I guess you're not that bad Foxy. I'll fill it out.” He almost smiled at the famous faunus for not calling him a girl. Rust turns and sat next to Rob, complaining and mumbling that almost went unheard

“He’s still a guy, having boobs doesn’t change anything”, Lullaby piped up from under her beanie, Rust turned and glared at her, tail flicking with irritation. Zachie hugged her tight, 

“Shhh he already proved himself a minute ago. He won't tell my secret. Or did you miss my test?”

“Yea but doesn’t mean I can’t fuck with him”, she moved her beanie to flash a smile at him.

“Heh, don't think your dad would be too happy to hear you're fucking with a teacher.” Ray casually added, like usual. Lullaby’s face flushed slightly and threw her hat at him. Rust’s face had relaxed and he was now simply observing them before he got up and sat facing them

“Well welcome to Haven”

Zachie didn't even wait for anyone else's comments or approval, he’d already made up his mind on Rust. “ Welcome to the shittiest circle of asshole friends ever. Prepare for hell, zero respect, and constant dick jokes.” He had the biggest grin on his face. “Oh and you, Other Guy… just know that until my wings heal I'll have to entertain myself, so in short, Winter is coming.” 

“hey, leave Rob alone, poor guy’s already traumatized, he’s from a rather reserved family, i don’t think his mother even hugged-”, Rust was suddenly flat on his face, tail wagging slightly

“Would you shut it…”, Rob stood and walked off and Rust sat up.

He continue to explained his family was a very reserved group of people, he’d been raised to be very restrained quiet and proper, barely having human contact, the only time his stiff nature seemed to relax was when he got to let loose on the battlefield.

Michael laughed his ass off, “ So this tight ass has never seen a tit before?!” He exploded into tears and laugher he could not contain, and Gavin joined in, Lullaby couldn’t help but to snicker as well. Ray chimed in,

“You're one to talk,  _ Mogar _ , the only boobs you've seen are your sisters!”

“Alright everyone, let's put it to a vote, all for making Rust an honorary Gent? I'll vote with Zachie.” Gavin just went with his brother's decisions on most things, they were two parts of a whole after all. Michael’s laughter stopped,

“What, you mean these assholes? Because you know the rule about mate's being included under our protection. This is serious guys, it's not a joke, it's not a game.” Michael was very cautious about letting people in. It was part of why Geoff had chose him over his own son's to be his Successor and Heir to the criminal throne. 

“I have to agree with Michael, are you really sure you really want to?” Rust shifted

“You could of done a lot worse to us then a few burns and you didn’t, I think that’s enough proof for me”, Lullaby smiled

Rust stood and directed them to the front office so their packets could be turned in once they were completed then went off after his partner. After they signed the necessary pages they went together to seal their fates as future huntsmen. 

Geoff was waiting when the team got home, he had gotten a call informing him that the household now had five new hunters in training. They had a small celebration over dinner, once Geoff stopped freaking out about his son’s wings, Ryan made enchiladas.

Rust and Rob stopped by before leaving, letting them know they would be back before they started at Haven. It took a few weeks for school life to return to normal. The rest of the school year went by in an uninteresting fashion, homework on week nights, heists on the weekends. During the their last month they came up with a brilliant idea, a last hurrah, this would be their biggest heist, just the five of them. They were doing this without their parents knowledge, just to prove they have the skill. They were going to rob a decent sized dust shop near the edge of town, call it restocking, after all once the summer was over they’d have to buy all of their own dust. It went smoothly, not exactly as planned, but well enough that it left them on a euphoric high. Ray had the bright idea to get a tattoo with some of the dust they scored, Lullaby was the only other one keen on the idea. They got matching roses, infused with fire dust, it cost them a good chunk of the cash they stole too, but it was worth it to them. 

Ryan didn’t see it that way, he was furious at the five of them not telling him or at least Geoff about their plans, Ray and Lullaby got lectured for at least an hour before Ryan calmed down. Ryan ended up grounded his daughter for the rest of summer, although it was mostly for show, he was extremely proud of them for their success. Most of the summer Zach and Gavin spent their days out and about, Ray would sit playing video games with Michael. Lullaby spent most of her free time in her room working on her new combat clothes, she had to make the jacket from hand. She was designing the jacket to have wings that would be pinned up when not in use and if her plan didn’t work, she could at least glyde.

Father Geoff was told about the lads dust heist they started coming on bigger heists and were given more freedom and trust. They had to prove they were adult enough to leave for the academy after all. Zachie had not taken to his wings being damaged as well as the others had hoped. Every heist they went on he was more violent than usual, even Michael was surprised by his kill count. He was frustrated and agitated and couldn't fly to relieve his stress, so he killed. Gavin even barfed once as Zachie disemboweled someone by opening his weapon inside them. They decided no more heist for awhile after that. Though Ryan was quite proud. 

Lullaby saved enough dust and money to slip out and get her next dust infused tattoos, twisting tendrils of wind dust on her calfs. She planning to test them once her legs healed some, with Gavin’s help since Zach was still waiting for the molting season. Within the next week Rust came knocking on their door, Rob nowhere to be seen. He said Rob was off meeting his bride to be, an arranged marriage, Rust didn’t agree with it but was helpless to stop it.

Rust sat with the five of them, parents hovering just outside the room, and began to explain the process of selecting their teams. It was a lottery, the students would be gathered in the main hall. They would be required to draw a slip of paper from a box at the entrance, every student would have a slip. After orientation they would be told to find a partner with the same colored dot, once pairs were formed the duo would be told to find the rest of their team from a different color. This worried Lullaby, only four people to a team, they wouldn’t be all on the same team, Ray reassured her with a quiet hug.

After Rust left Lullaby went to Gavin and asked him to meet her in the backyard to help her test her project. She went to change into her new combat suit, a purple button up with a black vest and tie, a ruffled black skirt with purple lining stopping just above her knees and her jacket the wings strapped closed. When lullaby went out back she asked gavin to fly over head and keep an eye on her. She unlatches the wings, takes a deep breath, looks to the sky and gathers power in her legs before pushing off the ground, launching her into the air past Gavin. Gavin stuttered flabbergasted as Lullaby let out a small scream in surprise, she started to fall down before spreading her arms, wings filling with air, catching her sending her gliding through the air. It had worked, she could now share the sky with her adoptive brothers, so caught up in her thoughts she missed Gavin’s warning. Seconds later she crashed into one of their taller trees, she fell, branches breaking her fall, and hit the ground with a dull thud. Nothing was broken and she was going to be sore for a few days but Lullaby couldn’t care less. Jack came out wondering what the crashing sound was.

“The fuck are you kids doing out here?” He noticed twigs in Lullaby’s hair.

“Flying”, she croaked sitting up wincing. Jack examined her “flying suit” and was impressed by it. 

“Interesting, but how do you take off? Wind dust?”

“Yea, I was testing it out, had Gavin here to help if it didn’t work, but wow that’s a hell of a rush!” she got up and limped a little as she walked over to Jack ,”Wanna see? We could get everybody!” Her face was as bright as a puppy’s.

“alright, but let's check your leg first. Seriously, haven't they taught you how to use your aura to heal and shield minor injuries yet?” 

“Yea… I was a little distracted… It’s fine though! Nothing’s broken!”, She showed him her leg and it was starting to swell a little. He sighed,

“Is that another tattoo?” 

“Well… Technically two, but makes it real easy to get off the ground”, She shrank away a little.

“You know Ryan's gonna kill you. Ya know what, no, I'm not telling him, YOU are.” He held his hands up and stepped back. She sighs and grumbled going inside, going to tell her father, who was just as pissed as last time, but he couldn’t exactly ground her again. She offered to show him why she did it and he declined, he didn’t want to have a heart attack from worry. She got on her tiptoes and kisses Ryan’s cheek telling him not to worry so much before going back to her room to continue her last minute packing.  

Zachie was going around to see how everyone was doing, and decided to check on Lullaby first.

“Hey, sup?” He sounded distant, a new trait everyone hoped would go away soon. 

Lullaby was still picking twigs out of her hair, most of her room in boxes, jacket thrown over the desk chair, wings fixed closed, she turned and smiles at him “Recovering after a leafy incident, inexperience can be a killer, but i’ll wait till i have the best two teachers in the air to try again”

“Heh, yeah, I'll help you find your wings once I've found my feathers.” He forced out a laugh. “Maybe… I won't hide them this time. Well, anyway, it looks like you're fine and the packing is going well, I'll talk with ya later. See ya.” Her ears laid back and she frowned, she hated seeing him like this and wished the molt would already come. Gavin felt the same, as he could hardly bear to see his other half acting so angsty and emo. He tried to be sympathetic but at the same time felt his brother needed to be shaken and yelled at to just “get the hell over it already, you're going to be fine”! So his actions seemed contradictory half the time. Their next molt wouldn't be until next fall, existence, and he couldn't let him mope for that long. 

“Maybe the new school will help? New people, more fighting, that should lift my boy's spirits!” Gavin thought out loud.

The next week passed quickly to some and dragged on for eternity for the rest, but the day finally arrived. They all had shipped out their belongings earlier in the week and it should be there by time they got to their dorms. They were prepared to cheat the system Rust warned them about, he must of know they would. Lullaby couldn’t quiet her nerves but didn’t want to reach out, she had to at least look like there was some courage in her. She had to prove she was here so early for a reason. They made their way to the main hall together and entered single file, drawing their slips as the went. Lullaby had blue, so did Michael and Ray, Gavin drew green and Zach got Purple. Gavin made quick work of switching for purple one, using the naivety of the other students to his advantage. The group settled near the back of the room and waited for this whole endeavor to be over. The headmaster came out once the hall was thoroughly packed with new arrivals, She gave a welcoming speech and went into explaining the selection process, after she was sure everyone understood the first step she released the students to choose. Lullaby started to reach for Ray to ask him to be her partner when a young man with onyx hair and red eyes came between them, knocking Lullaby to the ground

“o-oh! i-i’m sorry”, the boy quickly helped her up, she barely heard him apologize. She looked past him to Ray and Michael who were smiling at eachother, they had decided to become partners that was clear “Y-You have a blue dot too huh?” her attention quickly snapped back to the quiet boy

“Huh? Yea…”, she looked towards the twins, there was still a chance she could be on a team with them.

“W-Would you mind being my partner? I-I promise i won’t let you down… And i’m sorry for bumping into you…”, He held out his hand ,”I’m Cherry”

She shook his hand and put on a friendly smile, stomach starting to knot ,”I’m Lullaby, it’s nice to meet you Cherry”

Once the noise level and movements of students died down the headmaster explained the next step, this one cause more commotion and shoving than before. Lullaby’s size was a major disadvantage, she had to rely on Cherry who was just trying not to get to much in the way, they ended up backing into a very solid person. Lullaby tilted her head back to get a look and met eyes with a animal looking man with amber eyes, he instantly reminded her of Michael, minus faunus features and larger. By his side was a girl with white hair and green eyes, maybe only half a foot taller then Lullaby herself.

“Are you two okay?”, the white girl asked, looking concerned, Lullaby noticed they both had green dots, she nodded and quickly looked for Gavin and Zach, they were looking around, with Michael and Ray. Her worst fear just came true, she was alone, to be in a group of strangers. She could barely hear Cherry call her name, she felt like she was going to hurl. She needed to get out of there now, there were too many people, too much noise, her head was spinning. She shut her eyes and tried to cover her ears, suddenly she was being lifted and a voice was bellowing over her, she felt them moving and soon she could smell the fresh air and opened her eyes. The man she had bumped into had carried her outside, he must of been telling everyone to move, Cherry and the girl were following after him.

“You okay now little lady?”, the man set her down, his voice was deep and gruff, she took a few deep breaths trying to calm her stomach, she looked back to the hall

“I-I”, She tried to stop herself from shaking, she felt a little better though, she wrapped her arms around herself.

“It’s alright, take your time”, he had a kind smile she noticed.

Her boys finally ran outside and Michael was going full speed at the large man, misunderstanding the situation.

“Let her go you cocksucker!!!” shouted at the man, rage at full blast. 

“Tiger! Watch out!”, the girl called, the man quickly looking around and spotting Michael

“Cocksucker?”, He stood his ground, not wanting Michael to Run into Lullaby, who ran right past him towards Michael after hearing his voice “W-Wait!”, He look dismayed and worriedly at Lullaby.

Ray pulled Lullaby into his arms and wouldn't let go, “ You alright Lulla? Did he hurt you?” He pet the back of her hair. Michael plowed a fist straight into the larger man's stomach, being too short to even dream of reaching his face. But the man did not budge more than an inch.

“Are you done small bear?”, Tiger looked towards Ray, as Cherry hesitantly went over “Is the little lady alright? She looked sick, I thought fresh air would help”

Lullaby’s breathing was starting to get back to normal and she had stopped shaking ,”I’m okay, I’ll be okay” She pulls away from Ray to look at Cherry then at the two keeping their distance ,”I just freaked out a little is all, i’m Lullaby, the shy guy is my partner Cherry, we drew blue”

“I’m Hemlock, and my partner who you”, She glares at Michael ,” Rudely punched, is Tiger, we had drawn purple” Michael just pouted, 

“Small bear? you're a fucking sentient tree! And I wasn't being fucking rude, i though you shitcakes were stealing my sister. Perfectly rational response.” Gavin approached Cherry, 

“ ‘Ello there, you seem rather scrawny and nice. I'm Gavin Free. And this little bundle of nerves,” he said wrapping a wing around Lullaby, “my sidekick in super heroism!” Lullaby quickly punched him in the side

“I told you i’m no god damn sidekick!”, Cherry looked startled at Lullaby’s outburst, and looked a little overwhelmed but gave his best smile.

“Nah dude, she's more of a side Punch!” Ray added, causing everyone to laugh, including Zach, who had been silently observing up to this point. He walked up to the one called Hemlock, giving her a once over.

“Why did you care about her?” His tone was cold and calculating, still trying to decide what to think of these new people.

Hemlock stepped back, keeping her personal space “why wouldn’t we? We’re all on the same side, and it wouldn’t of been right to leave someone in that state or is it different where you’re from?”, A touch of ice in her own voice ,”And i’d appreciate you minding my space sir”

Zachie looked over at Gav for confirmation and his brother nodded his head. Zachie sighed heavily.

“I am sorry, I'm not myself lately. I'm… kind of broken right now, trying to put it back together. I'm Zachary, but friends call me Zachie. And for the record, where I come from it's ‘take care of your own, but leave the rest to rot’...” She nods understanding.

“Well each to own I guess”, Hemlock shrugged as someone cleared their throat in the doorway of the hall, a teacher. They asked if they had made their teams and to come back inside. 

Lullaby made up her mind up and left Ray’s arms and went to Tiger and stuck her hand out to him “thank you for helping me, and Cherry and I look forward to working with you if you’ll have us”, Tiger laughed then shook her hand and picking her up in a swift motion.

“Then let us go comrades! The day is still young”, He carries Lullaby inside, Cherry and Hemlock sharing a look before following. Tiger set Lullaby on his shoulder once settled inside, the lads watching, still not sure about Lullaby’s teammates. The headmaster concluded the orientation by splitting the student body into groups of 4 teams and assigning a teacher to tour the campus, and telling them that they would be spending the night in the hall. During the tour Lullaby’s hat was taken from her, the teacher said hats were not authorized when in uniform, she almost had another episode before Tiger’s response, he picked her up, almost crushing her in a hug, saying her ears were adorable. After the tours were concluded the students were allowed to access their luggage to retrieve anything they would need for the night, securing their belongings in the main hall before heading to the cafeteria. Lullaby was quickly warming up to her team, although a little embarrassed at Tiger trying to carry her wherever there was a large crowd, but she new it came from a good place and appreciated it.

Ray’s face was as emotionless as usual, but he kept staring at the two, secretly jealous of them. Michael turned to Cherry ,“Cherry huh? Kind of a girly name isn't it? Get picked on alot?” To Michael, he looked pretty weak.

“Not so much… There were plenty of rumors about me being pretty violent back home… I have no clue where they come from though, but it did help a lot”, he smiles, clearly knowing more then he says. 

Hemlock was still keeping a safe distance from everyone, especially Zach, chatting idly with Gavin.

“... So here's a question, say you get a million dollars, but you had to join a criminal organization for five years, would you do it?” Gavin asked her. 

“Hmm…”, She looked down, thinking ,”Well i’d fit in enough I suppose….. I don’t see why not if it was only temporary”

Lullaby looked over and nodded ,”What about you Cher?”

“I-I, I-I dunno, I’d rather not, criminals generally aren’t good people… I mean i heard there’s this one gang that’s pretty decent, so i mean it wouldn’t be so bad if it were that one”, He laughs nervously and rubs the back of his head.

They all went around answering Gavin’s hypothetical, Tiger said he wouldn’t, Lullaby and michael both said they would easily, Ray just shrugged, Gavin and Zach gave a more neutral answer as well. The rest of dinner went along similarly, the eight of them conversing. They discovered Hemlock only had two real moods with people, she either blocked them out or was after their blood. Cherry was quiet but often followed by rumors of being violent and not someone to be messed with. Tiger had a soft spot for animals, an even softer side for Faunus, but would snap any criminal's neck after a certain point. 

“So Hemlock, can i call you Hem? I'm just gonna call you Hem. You don't like being close to people, there a reason for that?” Ray asked. She shifted uncomfortably and tried to dodge around the question, trying to pass it off as just simply not liking people and changing subjects. Gavin suddenly felt very cheeky and wanted to piss off Michael, so he started getting flirty with Hemlock, he fluttered his wings and approached behind her.

“But you like me don't you? I'm too adorable to hate. Plus if you ever get cold I can wrap my wings around and warm you up.” his smile was soft and his words suggestive. She stiffened, light blush spreading across her face, and a quick flash, for those who could see aura, of her semblance roaring to life, she scoots farther away from everyone, Tiger quickly looks over and hugs her, skin burning away and rapidly healing at the contact.

“hey, hey, Hem, it’s alright girl, calm down before you really do hurt someone”, he said in soothing tones. She quickly responded and Tiger’s skin healed, he continued to hug her for a second longer before letting her go ,”Sorry Tig, are you okay?”

Tiger laughed it off and let her check him over to make sure. Lullaby questioned them about what just happened and they explained how their semblances worked, Hemlock’s skin would become corrosive while Tiger could rapidly regenerate, they went well together.

“That explains the smell of burning flesh.” Zach laughed a bit, Hem flinched. Michael smacked Gavin upside the head, “YOU fucking prick. I'm gonna kick your ass for this later. My foot is literally going up your ass.” Gavin made sad bird noises before clinging to tiger and wrapping his wings around him, still trying to piss off Michael, because it was just too fun!

“ Tiggy, he's being a meanie! I was just trying to make friends!” He pouted looking up at the taller man. 

Tiger laughed ,”Well my avian friend do not worry! the small bear can do no harm to me!”

It made Lullaby happy to see her new friends and team getting along with her family. She laughed at Gavins antic’s and Tiger playing into them, and for once in public she felt comfortable with her faunus nature.

“Seriously Gavin, cut the crap or something will happen to you.” Michael was starting to really get upset, flirting with girls didn't bother him, but when Gavin started it with other guys he actually got jealous. Eventually things calmed down and they finished their meal and headed back to the hall to set up and get some needed rest. They set up near each other divided into their teams, Lullaby closest to her boys. She had a good feeling about tomorrow and the rest of her future before she went to bed.

In the morning, after everyone had been woken up and summoned to the training room (not to be confused with the outdoor field) where they were presented with their team names and captains. Team CHIT, Leader Tiger and Team GRMZ, Leader Zachary. After this ceremony was complete they were given their dorm room assignments. Team CHIT and Team GRMZ had rooms across the hall from each other, in each room was a note in a familiar hunter’s handwriting stating he had pulled some strings so they would be roomed near each other. The students were given a few hours to unpack and settle in before classes started.


	3. Easy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes on their first mission and relationships bloom.

Classes had been going smoothing for a week, it was their first real break to relax and catch up, Lullaby had prepared a nice picnic for a lunch out on the grounds with her team and family. She had Tiger help her set up and carry the supplies since he volunteered. She had slid a note under team GRMZ door earlier that morning to tell them where to meet at noon.

Team GRMZ all dressed casually, Gavin whining all through breakfast about his arm hurting, since Michael decided to give Gavin a dead arm the night before for trying to flirt with another bear. He knew that Gavin was just trying to get Michael to say something romantic or possessive in public, but hell would sooner freeze over before he’d give up his asshole act. They met at the designated tree as on time as you'd expect 17 year olds to be anywhere, so about 15 minutes late.

For the first time Lullaby could wear a hat, and choose not to, mostly due to the fact that it would upset her team leader. Hemlock was nice enough to make her a headband with spaces for her ears, to help keep the hair out of her face. As long as they were on school grounds it didn’t bother her so much to not wear a beanie. Rumors had started up surrounding Team CHIT that they were badasses with gang affiliations and shouldn’t be messed with. Lullaby was at a loss, she hadn’t said anything about The Crew. Cherry is more confident with these circumstances, his stutter less prominent. 

They talked about the progress of classes and how Lullaby was adjusting to fighting with her team. Tiger uses his brute force with an executioner's blade that doubles as a grenade launcher. Hemlock still maintains her distance with her spear transforming into a automatic rifle.  Cherry’s was the most baffling, he could fight in close quarters as well as a distance, using steel wires to cause damage and tripping the enemy up. They were still working on meshing their styles well on the field but they were making progress. Tiger was doing his best but often goes to Lullaby for help, she has no problem and many helpful idea’s. She shared all of this progress happily, proud of her new found independence, but missed her boys desperately. 

They had only been together for an hour and Lullaby was already exhausted, she had gotten up early to make everything. Ready for a nap she laid next to Ray and smiled at the self proclaimed ladies man. Her thoughts wandered towards the fire as she dozed, she had no clue back then that Haven would be the best thing to happen to her. 

Tiger hopped up, only causing Lullaby stir slightly ,”Small bear! Show me your skill! Let us see if you can even put a dent in me!” 

“Heh alright I guess, don't go crying to your mama when I bruise you up though. And stop calling me small, Lamp Post!” Michael got to his feet and strode into the middle of the field.

“Then you don’t go crying to your boyfriend when I hand your ass to you!”, Tiger strode after him, glancing at Lullaby as he went. Michael’s face lit up redder than a tomato.

“H-he's not. We're- I…. Just shut up and let your fists do the talking!” He charged forward with a shout. Tiger laughed before taking a defensive stance and dodging Michael charge, he dances around Michael's next few attacks before sending a knee into his gut. 

Michael recovered quickly, and kicked at the back of tiger's knee, forcing him down to where Michael could actually get a proper hit on his face. Tiger was surprised by Michael’s sudden force as he brought his arms to cover his face, trying to block most of the blows as he recovered. After a moment of Michael’s relentless attacks Tiger lunged forward letting all of his weight fall on the smaller man. 

“Holy fuck you're fat.” He said, struggling to get free, he resorted to biting whatever skin he could reach.

Tiger laughed and made no attempt to get up ,”Or perhaps you are still so small, little bear, and the shear difference in size leaves you immobile, maybe that is why your partner chooses to flirt with other bears” 

Lullaby gave a let her breath out with a hiss, half asleep, listening to their fight, knowing he just opened hell’s gate.

Michael’s eyes went wide as he looked at Tiger, a look of pure shock, making Tiger regret his words as Michael looked deeply wounded.

“Oh.  **HELL. NO!** ” Michael’s aura erupted in an explosion that knocked Tiger off of him. He then rushed forward, seeing only red and began fighting like a wild animal, exactly like an Ursa. Cherry stood up clearly worried as Tiger took the beating, strings of aura shot out towards Michael, wrapping around him, Cherry doing his best to control him and stop him from attacking. Michael's arms were immobilized, but he still pushed forward until he got close enough to get one last bite in on Tiger and ripped off a small chunk of flesh with his extra long teeth causing Tiger to actually scream in pain. Cherry forced himself more to stop Michael, nose starting to bleed from the effort, Hemlock started to run over, spear expanding in her hands.

Gavin ran over screaming, “Stop, stop! Please wait!!” He ran in front of Mogar, placing his hands on either side of his face, ignoring how his hands clawed at his arms ,“Micoo come back. Put Mogar away, it's me, Gavin. Your little Gavy Wavy, remember? You know I'd never leave you.” As he spoke, the bear-man stopped growling and his aura began to calm down to a normal level.

Zach placed a hand on Cherry's shoulder, “You can let go now Cherry, he's gonna be fine. If you're gonna pass out, I got ya covered.” He smiled playfully at him. Cherry looked at him then collapsed into Zach’s arms, letting his semblance go, shaking slightly and breathing elevated. Tiger stayed on the ground as his wound healed, Hemlock coming to a stop by his side, ready to attack if Michael made a move she didn’t like. Michael spat out the flesh he had in his mouth and looked disgusted with himself as Gavin hugged him and wrapped him up in the warmth and safety of his wings. “Gavin… the fuck did I do? Did I really hurt him? I've never lost myself that far into Mogar before…” He glanced over at Tiger from Gavin's shoulder. 

For the first time since they met, Tiger seemed small and his voice matched is diminuer ,”I’m sorry, Michael” That was the first Tiger called him by his name, it made Michael sad. Was he scared of Michael now?

“ Hey, no… I'm sorry Tig… We, are we still cool? I swear this will never happen again. Are you ok?” 

Tiger got up and put his hand on Hemlock’s shoulder “Yes, i’m fine, Hem, put your weapon away, i’m no longer in any danger”, He looked towards Lullaby who was watching but made no movement towards them “I pushed too far and got what I earned”

Michael turned to Gavin ,“Hey. You. You know I can't live without you, we ALL know I can't live without you! So will you please stop being a motherfucking manwhore?!?! I love you, ok there I said it!” He buried his face into Gavin's neck when he was done yelling to hide the blush that had taken over his face. Then he shoved his precious bird to the ground “But you're still a piece of shit.” He walked over to Tiger cautiously, leaving Gavin smiling on the ground like an idiot.

“So uh, you can… still call me ‘bear' and shit if ya want… if you're not too scared off to be friends.” He muttered quietly, keeping his eyes on his feet.

“If you are sure small bear it will be so!”, he was already returning back to his usual self, a grin already on his face ,”At least I was able to help you admit your feelings!”

Tiger trotted back over to the blanket and helped himself to the food, Hemlock following, putting her spear away but keeping an unkind eye on Michael. Soon Lullaby was taking a peaceful nap in the shade, Cherry was chatting with Zach, explaining more clearly that doing something like controling Michael was extremely hard and he could only do because of his single minded intent. Usually it wasn't easy to control humans or faunus, But grimm and other animals were easier.

Zachie nodded in understanding and pulled Cherry onto his lap, using his sleeve to wipe away the blood from his face.

“Well you need to be more careful not to hurt yourself, you're far more valuable to your teammates like this than a braindead vegetable!” He was acting very maternal, but Zachie was always like that with smaller or younger people. He hugged Cherry close and wrapped his wings into a cocoon around them. Cherry’s face burned bright much like his name and mumbled a thanks, hands curling into Zach’s shirt, relaxing in the warm dark space he created. Lullaby started to toss a little in her sleep, face scrunching up before bolting awake with a loud short scream and looking around franticly.

Ray brushed her hair out of her face, hair band somewhere on the ground beside them. “ It's ok Lull, I'm right here. It's alright. Everyone's safe and sound.” He said softly, she didn’t start calming down till she met eyes with everyone, clinging to Ray. She whimpered and sniffled, trying to breath deeply and telling herself it was just a dream. Cherry climbed out of Zach’s lap to see if he could help. Zachie frowned at the loss of a cuddle buddy. 

“ What was the dream about?”, Cherry questioned her, she shook her head and refused to tell them. They didn’t know she dreamt of all their corpses cold and dead in horrible form. She continued to refuse as they pushed till she burst yelling that she just wanted to forget the nightmare. She didn’t say a word after that till they let it be, Tiger made his best attempt to bring the mood back to the peaceful morning they had been having and spit out a bunch of dumb knock knock jokes. They sat out till the afternoon when Tiger said they had to return their dorms, he had planned training for them tomorrow and he wanted everyone to be well rested and ready.

Over the next weeks the team’s bond only got stronger and their fighting more skilled. They trained every chance they got and spent most nights helping each other with homework, along with Team GRMZ. They noticed more often than not Zach looked scraped up as if he’d been getting into fights with students. Cherry worried about him as they started getting close, Cherry would notice any new injuries, asking how he was getting them. Zachie would just smile, ruffle Cherry's hair and say “Being a hero!” and leave it at that most of the time. Other days he’d just tell him that every school has bullies, and he wasn't one to stand back doing nothing. They had started noticing a certain change in the air and leaves starting to turn. Lullaby was happy when she recognized the signs of fall, knowing Zach would be ecstatic, he would be back to flying soon. She’d also get her flying lessons once that happened and she almost couldn’t wait, she kept talking about it with her team, the next study session with Zach, Cherry brought it up. He talked about how excited Lullaby was and how he hadn’t seen her so excited before, he also told him Lullaby said he was quite a sight to see in the air. He told Zach he was looking forward to seeing him fly. Cherry kept quiet about some of the things Lullaby had let slip, but since then rumor’s about gang affiliation had all stopped.

“Heh, so she mentioned my wings huh? You must have really won her trust for that conversation to start. Yeah, I'm not as fast as my brother, but I'm going to change that when i get to practice again.” He paused to think. “Say, since the molting process is really irritating, would you be willing to help me when it starts? My wings itch all over and i can't reach everything in the back.” He was being very subtle with this maneuver, his wings were very sensitive and asking someone to touch them was a rather intimate thing, not that he expected a human to know this.

“R-Really? Of course i’ll help out”, Cherry smiled sheepishly ,”I’m glad you all trust me too, it’d be hard to be on a team with Lullaby didn’t trust us…. A-Although Tiger..”, He stopped realizing he was about to let him know that he knew about their family then shrugged ,”Tiger kinda had a dilemma when she showed us a letter from her father…. But it’s okay now!”

Zach's eyes narrowed slightly “oh? A letter from Dad 3? And you're sure everyone's ok with everything?”

“Well i think we all passed Gavin’s test .. Except Tiger but I don’t think he would do anything or has any problem with it anymore…..”, he shifted around ,”It was mostly him saying things were going well and there was talk about someone named Lindsay excelling…. And new members… But after reading it I tried my best to crush some rumor… Rumors I-i may have started...”

“Heh well she has wormed her way into his heart. So it was you that started those? Hm, everything's starting to click into place about you now. I like it, you use brain over brawn. I just got one more favor to ask of you Cherry Berry.” He leaned a little closer to him.

Cherry met his eyes “W-What is it?” Zach smiled a little,

“ Spread a rumor about  _ this. _ ” He then leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. After a few seconds he pulled away and walked towards the door, “ See ya later, Cherry Berry.” and walked off to his favorite thinking spot on the roof. Lullaby heard all about the kiss in perfect detail later, and like fire there were students talking about Cherry from Team Chit and Zach from Team GRMZ having a thing going on, and of course Lullaby wrote home about everything. When Lullaby did see Zach again she teased him about stealing her teammates.

He shrugged it off, “ I'll trade you for Ray.”

“If only!”, She sighed wistfully ,”But Cherry’s staying on my team! He’s great and fits perfectly! We’re finally a real challenge!”

She had to rush off to class or be late. Soon molting season began and whenever there was free time between classes and training Cherry was happily with Zach, helping him the best he could. Rust and Rob returned to the school for a small tournament just before first year student missions would begin. During the tournament, a pretty young woman was coming and going around Rob, clearly his fiance, she was well dressed and Rob treated her well. Rust seemed a little off but still was his over confident self, he made sure to check up on the five of them and was pleasantly surprised to see Lullaby to be on her own team.

She was on Tiger's shoulders when Rust found them and Cherry was helping Zach with his wings, Zach was cooing happily the whole time, Cherry had figured out pretty quickly why it was that Zach wanted him to help with his wings.

“Well this is quite the turn of events! The shy pup is in a completely different group of people and you’ve got yourself a boyfriend! If I had know you’d like it here so much I would have kicked your butts sooner!”, Rust was alone once more. Tiger looked amazed that Rust, the famous faunus hunter knew them and that he was associating with him now as well. Michael walked up to Rust and gave him a friendly punch in the arm. 

“Yeah we totally meant to just throw her to the wolves and fend for herself.” he said sarcastically, “How the hell have you been? You need to come by AH HQ and meet a certain someone if you want to be a true Gent. Which I recommend.”

Rust chuckled ,”You really are trying to turn me into a criminal, maybe i’ll go stop by after i’m done here, i’m going to need something to do while Rob’s busy with his girl.”, he sighs, Lullaby leaned down and whispered something into Tiger’s ear.  Ray stepped forward and spoke up,

“ Is it really a ‘crime' to fight for the people you love? We turned Achievement Shitty into Achievement City, now we just have fun and prove our strength to rival gangs now and then.”

Rust’s eyes suddenly went wide, looking past Ray “Oh shi-”, Suddenly Lullaby came crashing into him at speeds she only achieved by using her tattoo’s, Tiger had stumbled back a few feet at least.

“Honestly we’re not so bad Rusty! Where’s the silent act? spending time with the lady?”

Rust couldn't speak, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked out of him, Lullaby had a shit eating grin on her face.

“Achievement unlocked!” Gavin shouted in true Achievement Hunter fashion causing everyone to give at least a small chuckle.

“Let me introduce you to everyone!”, Lullaby said helping Rust up ,”That big guy is Tiger out team Leader, Zach’s boyfriend there is Cherry and them we have Hemlock. I highly suggest you respect her personal space” Each member nodded as Lullaby introduced them. They all chatted with Rust for a minute before he was called onto the field for his next fight. They made it to the last round before losing, Rust brushed if off like it was nothing. Soon he excused himself to go to the AH Headquarters after saying goodbye to everyone.

Three days later Team CHIT was packed and leaving for their first mission, Team GRMZ only a day behind them. Both teams wished each other luck and to come back safely. Zach pulled Cherry off to the side to give him one of his feathers attached to a leather strap, a necklace and his new good luck charm. Lullaby dragged Cherry off before he could get a kiss goodbye, she didn’t want to be late and upset the teacher they are working with. They were sent out as guards to a maintenance crew for one of the CCTS support towers. The job went smoothly and they were lucky to only see a pack or two of Grimm. When they returned, mere hours before Team GRMZ, they learned that they would be getting a week’s break and a pass to leave campus. Lullaby invited her team to come home with her and meet the rest of the family, if they wanted to. The mansion was big enough to fit everyone.

“G-Geoff’s not going to kill me right?”, Cherry fiddled with his necklace, Lullaby snickered.

“You’ll be fine Cher, now if I had a boyfriend they’d better watch out! Ryan would tear him apart!”

Zachie threw his arms around Cherry from behind, “ Yeah Cher, you'll be fine! Daddy’s not gonna hurt you because I love you. Now Mom is the one you kinda need to worry about. She's got a chainsaw, and will ask a lot of questions.” He chuckled softly, resting his head on Cherry's shoulder. Cherry gulped and paled slightly.

“so you're good to fly yet Zachie? Because i’d rather not crash into any more trees if it can be helped!”, Lullaby smiled. 

“Yeah, i think so. Though i'm surprised you haven't just asked Mom for lessons yet, since she's the one who taught Gav and I.” 

She shrugged “It’s not the same! I want to fly with you and Gav and it’s good to learn how to teach others!”, She puffed out her cheeks. 

“Is Ryan strong like the small bear?”, Tiger looked very interested in this topic. 

Michael perked up and hearing his favorite Gents name, “Ryan, strong as me?!” He exploded with laughter. “You're shitting me, he's The Mad King! No one's better at killing than him!” Michael really looked up to Ryan when he was younger and was always the first to defend his strength or reputation. Tiger frowned and looked like he was thinking about something but quickly returned to normal. 

“Then I will go with you! I look forward to another challenge! Hopefully this time I won’t lose another shirt!”, He laughs, glancing over at Lullaby.

“You know you and Gav have it real easy with gifts! you can just give someone a feather and it’s as easy as that, i’m a little jealous of that”, Lullaby sighed.

Zach laughed ,“Well if you wanna get morbid you could do the thing that one artist did and give ‘em your ear!” This time Ray smacked Zach in the back of the head. Lullay scrunched up her face, muttering something about that being gross. Once everyone made their plans they returned to their dorms to pack for their week and get some much needed rest.

The next morning the two teams met by the gate and headed over together, Lullaby hitting the buzzer when they got there. Lindsay let them in after some of the usual banter, The Gents were waiting in the front room, a young man with short black hair in a green hoodie was lounging on the couch and Lindsay came over to welcome everyone. Ryan scooped up his little girl and spun her around, spouting about how much he missed her and is so happy to have her back, she couldn’t stop laughing. Geoff gave both of his boys a big warm hug before turning to Lullaby’s team, looking over everyone, examining Cherry the longest. Jack waited till Geoff was done to give everyone welcoming hugs .

”Welcome to our Humble abode, i’m Jack, “ His smile was warm and welcoming ,”Come in, i’ll make some snacks and we can properly have everyone introduce themselves, does that sound nice?”

Jack herded them all into the family room, making them leave their bags in the front room, and went to make his snacks. Tiger’s eyes were fixed on Ryan, he knew size didn’t mean much as he learned with Michael. Cherry was looking around nervously, keeping his eyes out for Zach’s mom. The lads all made themselves comfortable, the man in the hoodie sitting up to make room for them, Lindsay sat next to Michael asking him a million questions about Haven. 

Tiger cleared his throat ,”It’s nice to meet you all, i’m the leader of Team CHIT, thank you for having us. My name is Tiger, the one to my right is Hemlock and our member who is dating Zach is Cherry”

Geoff moved to stand in from of Cherry, looking at the feather around his neck, “So I see… Well Cherry, welcome to the family, break my boy's heart and he'll probably break your leg, I don't need to defend him.” He shrugged lazily, offering his hand to the new comer. Cherry didn’t relax at all.

“Th-thank you sir”, He was still looking.

Jack came back in with snacks as a staring contest began between Ryan and Tiger, Ryan having noticed he was watching him.

“Yo! You can just call me Little J, so you’re the boss’s kids? They’re always talking about you guys!”, There was finally a name to the guy, he was the new member Lullaby had gotten a letter about.

“Oh! I’m Lindsay! I used to mostly do security around here! I’ve stepped up since these five losers left!”, Lindsay had a smug smile.

“Why are you staring at me!”, Ryan snapped.

“I would like to fight you, to prove I can protect your daughter”, Lullaby practically choked on air at Tiger’s sudden statement. Ryan smiled, it was not the good type of smile, more like the smile he got when tearing a bastard limb from limb.

“Then where would you have us fight, I’d rather not ruin my own home with your blood”

Ray gave a loud sigh of aggravation, “Seriously guys?! We're barely home for five fucking minutes and you're already trying to kill each other?! Fuck my ass! I'm getting Griffon, and she's going to stop this bull crap, so Cherry can stop panicking about whether or not she's gonna shove a chainsaw up his ass!” Ray then stormed off, flipping everyone off behind him with both hands.

Lullaby’s ears laid back ,”Ray’s right! I came home to relax not to worry over either of you getting hurt! You could of let it be!”

“I’m in charge of your life every time we leave school grounds, it’s the least I could do to prove to your father that your life is in good hands”, Tiger refused to back down, the tension was thick in the air, Ryan and him sharing cold stares. Lullaby whines, wishing Ray would hurry up. As if the universe heard her pleas, Griffon came kicking in the door. “Ryan, the fuck did you do and why is Ray cry- oh we have guests. Ahem, what did you do Ryan?” She didn't want to make Ray look bad in front of what she assumed were friends, but Ray had told her everything and was crying from rage and other emotions he didn't have much experience with. 

“This ogre challenged me to a fight to prove his strength, i’m only going to give him what he asked for. How does a nice abandoned warehouse sound to you Son? A nice grave”, His wicked smile only grew. Cherry was sitting straight up since she entered the room, the wings giving away who she was. 

“It'll be yours if don't back down and fix the ‘problem’ upstairs. I will take care of the children, it's the third thing I'm the best at after all.” She turned to them and smiled sweetly, “Dear child, I must request you sit down.”

Tiger looked to her then Back to Ryan who growled but backed down, and went upstairs to talk to Ray, Lullaby relaxed and looking after Ryan, wanting to follow but not sure if she should. Tiger hesitantly sat back down, frowning.

Lullaby stood up ,”Tiger, as for proving yourself, you prove it every time I come back in one piece from a mission, you’re a giant with strength to match… I know that’s probably just an excuse and I don’t care for another reason but just leave my dad alone”, With that she went after Ray and Ryan. Tiger looked crushed, eyes locking on the carpet. Lullaby hesitated outside of the room.

“Ray, you don’t want to see me put a punk in his place eh? I wasn’t going to kill him”, Ryan sat next to Ray. Ray shook his head,

“It's not that Rye, I'd be totally ok with you teaching him brains are better than brawn. It's just… I didn't know he had a crush on Lullaby, and I don't think he's right for her. Yeah he's strong, but so what?! What if he get over powered someday, he doesn't have the training to get her out of there alive!”, Lullaby lightly knocked on the door, interrupting Ray.

“I really don’t have any interest in Tiger as anything other than a friend… I don’t think it’ll be anything other than that either…”, She stayed in the doorway, looking at Ray. Ryan beckoned her into the room. Ray looked like he needed a hug as he dried his face quickly, not wanting her to see him cry. She came over and gave him a tight hug and did her best to comfort him. He relaxed into her arms immediately, and Ryan picked up on what wasn't being said by Ray. 

“ I'm sorry Lullz, I'm just worried for you. Like, like a friend is supposed to.” Ray said hugging her back.

“It’s alright Ray, I get it, but that’s why I have Hemlock and Cherry too”, It stung every time he made it a point to reminder her they’re just friends, but she didn’t mind much. She smiled at him ,”At least you had more courage to do what I wanted to, wanna go back down and see how Cherry and Griffon are getting along?”

Ray took a breath and put on his usual facade of calm. 

“ Ok, yeah, that should be fun. Wonder if he's wet himself.”

She couldn’t help but snicker, she grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs. Ryan sighed and went after him, at a loss as to what to do about them. Cherry was speaking very formally as he introduced himself to Griffon. 

“H-hello, m-ma’am, i-i’m, i-i mean my name i-is Ch-ch-cherry”, He was overly flustered and couldn’t control his stuttering.

“Nice to meet you Cherry, I am Griffon, Zachie’s mother. I've heard alot about you from my son, but I still have many questions. Now tell me, what are your intentions? Are you bi or just gay?” Geoff tried to soothe his wife's overprotective tendencies, but nothing he did would distract her from her main focus. So he offered everyone alcohol, yes,  _ everyone. _ Except for Ray, he already knows better. Cherry tried to speak, his stuttering barely allowing him to get out a word or two, getting more high strung and nervous as he continued to be unable to speak, but he kept trying, nerves turning to frustration the longer it took him to talk. He wanted to answer Griffon but couldn’t get the words out. Zach decided he had left his boyfriend suffer for long enough, though to be fair he didn't expect him to freeze that much that quickly. He hugged Cherry around his waist and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Calm down Love, she's not going to hurt you, just be yourself and she'll love you like I do. Seriously, breathe before you pass out.” He tried to be reassuring. Cherry closed his eyes and started to take deep breaths and relax, comforted by his boyfriend and it took a few minute before he tried again.

“i-i’ve never really thought about my orientation ma’am, b-but I do know I love your son and I do intend to b-be faithful and take the relationship as far as we’re both comfortable with.”, He looked at her with a sheepish smile

“Hah! Gayyyyyyy!!!!” Ray screamed from across the room, that seemed to be his favorite meme. Griffon smiled, satisfied for now. “Alright, looks like Ray approves. Heh, you answered enough for now, though I do want to know more about your family and upbringing later, that can wait for your next visit.” 

Cherry relaxed significantly and sighed happily “I-I look forward to it ma’am”

“Can we get settled in now?”, Lullaby asked heading towards the front room. Geoff held out a glass of rum and coke to Cherry, 

“First i gotta know, you a drinker kid? It's ok if you are, i am. I'm drunk 24/7! But if ya are i just need to know you aren't a pussy about it.”

“I’ve actually never been allowed to drink before”, He shrugged

“I don’t think any of my team really has, they’ve been law abiding citizens before they met me!”, Lullaby called ,”Come get your shit guys! I’ll show you around!” Geoff accepted the answer and left the kids alone after placing the glass in Cherry's hand and ruffling his hair. “Ok kiddies, Daddy's getting drunk in the office, so Uncle Jack is in charge!” And he wandered off. Cherry looked at the glass and took a small sip before setting it down.

“I’m going to help Lullaby before she gets mad”, Cherry got up to go gather his stuff and then poked his head back in with a sudden bout of courage “So am I sleeping in your room or with my Team?” Zach smiled brightly, 

“My room obviously, but don't expect anything.” he winked at his boyfriend, “and I'm pretty sure my dad just tried to get me laid.” He laughed, downing the rest of the alcohol. Cherry blushed as he got his stuff, Hemlock and Tiger soon followed. Lullaby gave them the grand tour of the house and the grounds, showing them to their rooms before setting her stuff in her room. She stopped by the fire pit and smiled, pulling out her scroll and sending a group message to Michael and Ray “You want to burn some shit again tonight? We’ll find something” and continued on her way, answering any questions they had. She brought them back to the kitchen in time for lunch. Jack had prepared something special for their guests, his super amazing grilled cheese with secret spice mix, it adds just enough heat to be interesting without burning your mouth off. 

“What’s for lunch Jack?”, Lullaby sniffed ,”Ooooh, got tomato soup too? I missed your grilled cheese!” 

“Of course I do, what kind of Uncle do you take me for?” He teased. “ None of you kids are allergic to spice right?”

Hemlock’s face light up a little at the mention of spice ,”It’s going to be spicy? Then it has to be good!” 

Tiger shrugged, not caring much and Cherry mentioned that it is a very nice kitchen and that it smells great. Lullaby had everyone go sit and she helped Jack finish up then called everyone for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who want to follow me or my writing partner on tumblr  
> I am at: http://mirthfulbaker.tumblr.com/  
> and my writing buddy is at: http://felice-jaganshi.tumblr.com/  
> I make a post each time I update here too.


	4. Fates Path, Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacation continues then it's back to school!

They all sat for lunch, Tiger staying away from Ryan as much as possible. Lullaby had decided to fill the spaces between bites with her retelling of her first mission. She made sure to cut out all the boring bits and highlight major strides in their teamwork. When she finished her telling she opened it up to the boys of Team GRMZ to tell their tales from their job. When lunch was over Tiger suggested they let their food settle then head out to train, not wanting their skills to get the least bit rusty.

Lullaby took them out front where they would have enough space, once everyone had their gear on. They focused on their trickier team maneuvers, one of which relied on Lullaby’s reflexes. She would send herself into the air, with the help of Cherry’s wires, and would have to unstrap her wings and stay in flight, launching dust and their opponents below, before dive bombing to break up any large groups. This didn’t always work and she would end up falling back down, relying on Tiger to catch her. Lullaby would reassure Cherry each time that he was doing a great job. The trust and hard work the team had in each other was easy to see. Tiger had them train for an hour or two before they called it quits.

They then took to entertaining themselves around the grounds, Lullaby spent time trying to get to know Lil J. Cherry slipped off to be with Zach and Hemlock choose to sit in the garden Ray and Ryan had started years ago and read. Everyone was called back together inside for dinner by Jack, he made Ryan’s favorite, enchiladas. He hoped it would put Ryan in a good mood and make the night more peaceful then this morning had been.

Ryan smiled at Jack ,“Thanks Jack, this an attempt to keep me on my murder break?” The bearded man only laughed lightly as he handed Ryan a plate. Once everyone was seated and served dinner began. Geoff related some of the stories of how the Crew began to the newcomers, smiling at each person as he mentioned their arrival into the story. He was making sure these “friends” understood that they were not a family to be fucked with, and that their loyalty was to the Crew, and Him before all others, including teammates or lover's. But other than that, life was theirs to lead, a crazy game with only one chance. 

“Do what you will, accomplish as many ‘achievements’ as you wish, but in the end we're all food for worms. So remember what family means to you, and play by your own rules.” He held up his glass for a small toast, “To Family, and the Game of Life.” Everyone joined in the toast. Geoff’s speech made Tiger understand the gang even more, and it made him happy to be a part of this huge family, even if it wasn't quite the way he wanted. Lullaby cleaned up after dinner and let Ray and Michael set up the fire pit. She stayed out with them till the two got tired and eventually went to bed, Lullaby wasn't planning on getting much sleep. She stayed by the fire till only a few coals were burning then came inside to make a cup of tea, sitting on the couch enjoying the quiet and peace of being home. She fell asleep on the couch in the early hours of the morning. Hemlock was the first person up and saw Lullaby curled up on the couch and searched around for an extra blanket to put over her before going to start on breakfast. She decided that a mini omelette bar would be best, not knowing what everyone likes yet, Hemlock got fresh vegetables from the garden for toppings and to make her family's secret salsa recipe. While she was prepping and cooking she couldn't help but enjoy the bit of freedom being alone gave her.

Ray grumbled his way down the stairs, he had found Tiger sleeping in his room, via Ryan's request, so he hasn't gone into a full-restful sleep, instead easing back into the half aware state he used to use when he didn't feel safe. So when he felt like he had enough “sleep” to function he silently got up and left without Tig even knowing he had been there. 

He stopped grumbling when he heard noise in the kitchen. His hand instinctively reached for his weapon as he silently continued down the stairs. He noticed Lullaby on the couch and smiled on the inside, leaning over and gently brushing some of her hair back, she smiled in her sleep and muttered something he couldn't quite hear. He was curious to see what she was dreaming, but he could only sense that her emotions were “happy” and a sense of security and safety. He frowned back to the kitchen, well, he was determined to make sure that safety had not been breached. He quietly peeked around the corner to the kitchen. Sighing in aggravation when he saw it wasn't an intruder. “And here i was getting all hyped up. Maybe I do need more rest.” He thought, relaxing significantly. Hemlock had started talking to herself, when she was digging through the fridge she talked in a deeper voice, asking herself what she was doing in there. 

“Well Mr. Spatula, as much as I love fresh veggies I think everyone else might appreciate a little more meat with their omelettes”, she said to herself pulling some bacon and sausage out.

Ray smiled softly, surprised that she would be the one to talk to herself, he decided to just sit back and watch the show for now. Maybe he'd comment in a bit. Hemlock was in her own world, enjoying herself a little too much as she got in a small argument with knife as to how she should cut the bell peppers, it coming down to her ruling cubes are better than thin slices as it was easier to eat and took less time to cook. Ray chose this moment to comment.

“I dunno Mr.Knife, I think I have to agree with Hemi.” He smirked as he walked into the room yawning and sat on the counter she wasn't using, next to the shitty popcorn maker Jack bought at a yard sale because “it was cute!”. Hemlock froze face quickly becoming red as a tomato, staring at Ray

“How long were you watching me!”, She tried to keep quiet because of Lullaby in the next room but wasn't as successful as she hoped. Hemlock quickly clasped her hands over her mouth and looked to the other room, making sure she didn't wake her friend before dropping her hands. It was a few minutes before she acknowledged Ray’s presence again.

She cleared her throat before speaking “Hey Ray…. May I ask you something? Since we're alone”

“What's on your mind?”, he raised an eyebrow.

“I'm curious, Lullaby is very good at reading people and so are you, so…”, Hemlock seemed to change her mind on what she wanted to ask ,”Does that mean your semblance is also very similar to hers?”

Ray smiles ,”Yeah, kinda. The pain we hide in ourselves we can see clearly in others. For her it’s physical. You and I are pretty similar too, Hem. Both keeping our distance from people. For you it's out of fear of hurting them, me it’s out of fear of being hurt.” He started messing with the zipper of his hoodie.

Hemlock muttered something about “understanding what she sees” getting back to work. She let the quiet sit for a moment before speaking “Well I’d try letting someone in… I know it’d mean the world to Lullaby.”

The creaking of the stairs alerted them to someone coming down. Tiger soon appeared in the doorway yawning.

“Morning, why is Lullaby on the couch?”, He asked motioning his head back to the living room.

“We didn’t exactly wake her to find out Tig, maybe you should ask when she wakes up”, Hemlock replied, he shrugged.

“So were you talking to the utencil’s again”, He looked down at her, she picked up the knife and stabbed him in the gut and washed it off before going to cook the meats ,”Was stabbing me really necessary?”, Hemlock nodded now giving him the silent treatment, Tiger came closer ,”Come on Hem, don't be so mean! I’m sorry”, He hugged her and promptly started to sizzle, Hemlock not having any of it. She soon stopped when the smell of burning flesh became more prominent and sighed.

“Does that mean I win?”, He couldn’t help but be a little smug, until the knife was once more buried in him down to the hilt. 

Ray gave a soft chuckle, it was going to be a long day for him, but not any longer than any of the heists he had been on. He was starting to see how criminal survival tactics were very useful for a hunter. Tiger removed the knife wincing and dropped it in the sink.

“Okay, okay, you win for now Hem, just stop putting holes in my shirt, I can’t fix them”, Tiger finally backed off and left the room, leaving the bloody knife in the sink.

“I like your style Hemi. You'd make a good Fake AH member.” He got off the counter and went to sit on the arm of the couch by Lullaby’s head. Hem watched him leave, a blush and a smile spreading, she quickly finished and stored everything till the rest of the house woke up.

“Maybe I do have a chance Mr. Knife… Maybe..”, Not even bothering to give the knife a voice this time.

It took another few hours till everyone got up, Gavin and Michael being the last ones to drag their asses out of bed. Everyone had settled into doing their own little thing when Hemlock went back into the kitchen to set everything out once more. She warmed a few pans on the stove before calling everyone in. Hemlock made Tiger wait to go last, stabbing his hand into the counter, making sure he knew he was last in line. The sudden violent action without reason behind it confused Cherry and Lullaby a bit but Ryan smiled, taking a liking to this side of Hemlock.

“Come on guys, no blood in the kitchen.” Jack ordered using his “dad” voice. Geoff was hungover and grumbling beside Jack, using him as a support so he wouldn't fall over.

“Too early for this shit.” Was the most Geoff could say before making it over to the coffee.

“Sorry Mr. Patillo, Tiger is getting the punishment he deserves for being an idiot this morning, I’ll clean up the mess I made”, Hemlock smiled at the bearded man before cleaning up the blood, Tiger now standing in the back corner of the room. They all sat to eat while Tiger finally got to make his food, and purposefully sat next to Hemlock. He suggested they do some more training in the evening but until then his team was free to do whatever they’d like. Cherry’s face lit up a little, he clearly had a plan to do with his free time and after breakfast he cornered his boyfriend. 

“Dear Sir Brah, would you accompany me on a date this fine morning?”, He extended his hand to Zach, this would be their first proper date. 

Zach couldn't help but laugh at the name , “ ‘Dear Sir Brah’? Ok, that's cute. Yeah sure, wanna go flying, or did you have a plan in mind?” He accepted Cherry's hand.

“You know this town better than I, but I asked Lullaby for some advice, so yes, I do have a plan, and a map.”, he pulls a map out of his pocket with some of Lullaby’s handwriting on it. He lead his boyfriend out of the house, Lullaby folded the blanket Hemlock had gotten her and put it away. Hemlock spent some time with Ray in the garden and who knows what Gavin and Michael were doing on their own. Unfortunately that left Tiger alone, with Ryan. Ryan sighed before standing up and walking around the chair Tiger was seated in, slowly circling it like a predator.

“ So, you have an interest in my daughter, my precious little princess.” He was using his “Mad King” voice, then one he used when interrogating rival gang members. “What makes you think you're worthy of her? So you have muscles, so you can ‘punch all the things’, so what? Michael can do that. Do you have anything else to offer her than muscle and looks? What happens when you get over powered, what then? You'll rely on your strength, and you'll die. Where will that leave her?  **Right in harm's way.** You need brains to be a protector. And honestly, Ray or Zachary would be a better pick than you. So no, you don't have my blessing. Don't you dare hurt my little girl. She's too good for you.” He finished his little monologue and stood in front of him with crossed arms, staring him down, almost daring him to respond. Tiger was quiet and nods after a minute. 

“You’re right I don’t exactly have a strong mind but I can think enough to lead four people and should she choose me i’d do everything in my power to keep her out of harm's way, but at this rate I get the feeling she wouldn’t choose me anyways. You may think I'm stupid, but i’m not as much of an idiot you make me to be, I’ll always protect her to the fullest abilities and our teams”, He met Ryan’s eyes with calm respect.

Ryan gave a small nod, “ You're right, I can't control who she chooses in the end. All I can do is pray she learns a thing or two from me about how she deserves to be treated. I'll let you protect her, but that's not the same as dating. Oh, and don't ever challenge me again, that's the fastest way to turn her away. No ‘daddy issues’ to cling to here.” He said as he relaxed into “Ryan the fun dad guy”.

Lullaby was smiling just outside the door, having listened to her dad’s whole speech, glad they settled it peacefully. She decided to join Hemlock and Ray in the garden’s, walking right past Tiger and Ryan. Approaching she would hear hemlock’s frantic voice, Lullaby knew she bottled everything, the dam must of finally broke, but she knew better then to approach, she waited around the corner, holding a watering can, seeing they had forgotten it.

“My mother even knew i’d be a venomous virus! Who in their right mind names their kid after a poisonous plant! She didn’t even deny it when I asked her you know! She knew i’d be lonely and destined to hurt other! I can’t even get close to anyone because of my damn semblance! I’d kill them!”, She paused to breath then started to scream because she just couldn’t find the words anymore and crumpled to the ground.

Ray sat with her till she calmed down enough and was safe enough to touch, then he pulled her close into her hug. It surprised her so much, he truly wasn’t afraid of her even though she could kill him at any moment. She clung to him and cried till the tears stopped, sniffling and trying to get her her emotions back to normal and looked up to Ray’s concerned and caring face. Lullaby heard her calm down and walked out in time to see Hemlock’s impulse decision to kiss Ray. Lullaby’s blood ran cold, pain seared through her emotions, she shook her head and stuffed it down, stuffed it down and bottled it as quick as she could, not wanting to Ray notice as she shakily cleared her throat.

“H-hey, s-sorry to interrupt, I saw you left this behind, I thought I could join you, but I see you’d much rather be alone”, She plastered a fake smile on her face, set the watering can down and quickly walked back inside, this time avoiding her dad and Tiger, and heading straight into her room and locking the door.

She didn’t leave her room till lunch, she acted completely normal, keeping her emotions under control, very neutral. Training didn’t happen when Tiger had planned it due to Cherry and Zach not being back yet, so Tiger and Lullaby played some war with a pack of cards she had. She had fun and enjoyed herself, she only let herself slip once, hugging Tiger a little too tightly. He noticed, but he also knew how stubborn she was and wouldn’t tell him if he tried to pry.To distract her, Tiger suggested they cuddle and watch some tv, she nodded and agreed. They watch comedy till the lovebirds finally came home, which was an hour before dinner, Tiger wasn't going to complain though. Lullaby decided that tonight would be a good night for a drink or two, she waited till after dinner to break out the tequila and other alcoholic beverages, she didn’t stay up nearly as long as the night before and slept like a rock.

She was the last person to wake up and eat a bowl of cereal, she kept an eye on Hemlock and Ray, she stood a little closer to Ray now but still kept distance, other than that she couldn’t tell any difference and left it at that. She also took their kiss as a possible sign that it was time to move on from her long standing crush on Ray. She looked a Tiger and entertained the idea of giving him a chance, but quickly pushed it from her thoughts, she didn’t need to think about dating, she thought she should instead focus on her studies and training when they got back to school, that was a better use of her time. Lullaby was determined to not let Ray and Hemlock stop her from being happy and living her life, even if it hurt, she was still Ray’s friend. She wasn’t losing anything so she really didn’t have a reason to be upset, she reasoned with herself and relied on that conclusion.

Tiger made sure the team trained and exercised today till everyone was exhausted, Tiger couldn't see a difference in their fighting and decided whatever happened the day before with Lullaby hadn’t been anything major. After training and lunch the team sat down to play bored games, till the alarms alerted them someone had entered the premises without being let in, everyone scrambled to get their weapons, but Rust was already inside the mansion by time they moved. He was red in the face and kept blinking away tears, he was fuming.

“You need a better got damned security system if I can just fucking walk past the damned gates! And would someone turn off that annoying ass alarm!”, He practically screamed. Ryan and Geoff came short of attacking him, Jack running to check on the kids, the alarm were soon shut off.

“What the fuck Rust! Are you trying to get killed?”, Geoff asked putting away his weapon, his fatherly instincts kicking in ,”You okay? Need a drink? You look like shit” 

“I’m about to lose my whole fucking life because Rob’s a chicken shit coward! First he has the audacity to ask me to be his best man! That’s not the problem though! As soon as I fucking agreed he fucking told me he’s quitting! He’s fucking leaving just like that! Just because he’ll be married! And because his bimbo racist trophy wife and father dearest say it’s too dangerous and he should worry about fucking settling down and starting a god damned fucking family! Did you know know she fucking hates Faunus? I saw the clear disgust on her face too when we met! She sees us as nothing more than as dirty fucking animals!”, He took a second to breath before starting again ,”Fucking bastard never fucking cared! He just used me to get his fucking kicks, was my friend for shits and giggles! To show Daddy how much better he could be and that he really was a perfect son!”, He laughed hysterically, it slowly turning into crying. “F-fucking selfish bastard….”

Geoff didn't hesitate to walk over and envelope this man in a tight embrace, he clearly needed it. “Fuck man… I am so sorry.” He knew he didn't need to say anything else. Then Jack came over to join in the hug

“It's alright man, It's ok to cry, everybody needs to sometimes, and everybody needs a hug.” He gave comforting rubs to Rust’s upper back. Finally Ryan, the Mad King, joined in the impromptu group hug. He said nothing, the others had said enough, he just needed to be there. Lullaby knocked on the doorframe.

“You know Rusty, we could ‘leave’ them a little wedding present, let’s call it a large unwilling donation to those in need”, She smiled at him, she really was the Mad King’s daughter. Rust looked over at her, tears now spilling freely from his eyes, he then looked to each of the men waiting for their reactions.

Team Lads all looked at each other and nodded, each pulling out their weapons to show their agreement with the plan. Geoff spoke up ,“ Now hold on kiddies! First things first, Bevs, STAT! We need a day of drinking for this man, get all this shit out now, so he will have clean and clear emotions before his first heist with the Crew.” Getting drunk off your ass the day before your first heist was a tradition in the crew, like part of an initiation. Lullaby turned to her team.

“Team CHIT, I won’t look upon any of you less and we could always use someone to guard the house while we’re gone, but if you want to join it’s time to put you big boy pants on! I’m going to need some protection on this one, i’ve never connected this big of a group together and it might take more concentration than usual, so who’s in?”, She beamed at them. 

“It's time to put up or shut up Kiddies, who's gonna be a new recruit, and who's gonna chicken out. Cherry, make a choice, now.” Michael demanded.

“Of course i’ll fight with you! I can’t expect to get very far with Zach if I can’t be a part of your world and your heists! It’s not even a question!”, Cherry’s voice was confident, eyes filled with determination.

Hemlock pulled out her spear in a similar fashion as the lads had ,”If i’m poison I might as well use it in a place that it’s welcomed”

Tiger looked at Ryan and they knew there was no question, he’d follow Lullaby. Team CHIT officially belonged to the Fake AH Crew now. Now it was time for drinks, Geoff, Michael and Lullaby went to raid their liquor cellar. Lullaby got her favorite vodkas, whiskeys and tequilas. Jack went to go get the glasses with Lil J, who was ecstatic to no longer be the newbie, and Lindsay. Gavin and Zach got out the karaoke machine because no doubt it would be broken out later if not now. Ray just sat back on the couch while everyone else set up. Rust tried to help when he had stopped crying but no one would have it, so he ended up on the couch with Ray.

“Sooooo….” Ray looked over at him, preparing a bunch of bad puns and sexual jokes for the night. “ You got anything going on down there?” He looked at Rust’s crotch, like a bad attempt to flirt. 

“Yeah, you interested? Maybe i’ll show you later”, Voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ray did a fist pump, pretending to be excited, “Yes! Not even drunk and I've already won you over.” He was mostly joking, but totally not opposed to getting laid, YOLO right? 

Rust chuckled and looked to the ceiling ,”You guys really did turn me into a criminal, not that i’m saying it’s a bad thing, it’s fucking great”

“Alright newbies! Time to drink! This one is Griffon’s recipe, she calls it The Creeper!”, Geoff called everyone’s attention, in front of them each was a lime green drink. Cherry took a deep breath and just chugged it then quickly started coughing, it was terrible and burned like hell going down. The rest were a little more careful then Cherry. 

“This tastes like shit”, Rust commented halfway through his. Ray just sat back drinking a glass of milk. 

“Yep, and I'm gonna laugh at all your drunk asses. Trust me there will be videos to watch in the morning.”,

Ryan chuckled drinking his diet cola. Cherry was already drunk by his fourth drink, Lullaby was down a good chunk in her bottle of tequila which she refused to share. After she was thoroughly drunk she ended up punching Ray in a fit of rage and then cuddling Tiger, with no protests from him. Tiger just held her in his lap as he continued to drink, Hemlock completely abandoned all boundries she had and got closer to everyone then she would normally. Zach, Gavin and Michael were able to hold their liquor better than the others their age because they never missed an opportunity when the gents presented it. They were all singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the karaoke machine, and Cherry quickly found a new trait to love about his boyfriend and wouldn’t stop blubbering about how great he sang. Zach just laughed, and insisted Cherry sing “Somebody to Love” with him, only buzzed himself and very giggly, he was always a happy drunk much like his father.

After most everybody had passed out or retired to their rooms Rust went to Ray ,”Hey Ray, wanna take me up on that earlier offer”, He pointed to upstairs, Lullaby was barely awake, watching through half closed eyes. 

Ray thought about it for a minute ,“Hmm, Fuck it, YOLO right? Not like I'm a virgin or some shit, I'm legal and sober, let's go! Ryan don't worry, I don't need you going dad mode on me.”  He lead the admittedly attractive man up to his room. “I figure you just need a good fuck to forget old fuckface, and honestly I don't want to just throw you out into a whore house.”

Lullaby couldn’t fight sleep any longer, she let a few tears slip out, glad to still be in Tiger’s arms, even if his snoring was loud. She kept tossing and turning as she had dreams where Ray was walking away and no matter how hard she tried to catch up he only got farther.

 

The next morning, Ray woke up curled on Rusts chest, pretty content if a little sore. He waited until Rust woke up before he thought about moving. The older man woke up with a pounding head and the first thing he did was groan about it, moving one hand to rest on his forehead.

“I drank too damn much”, He looked at Ray ,”Morning”

“Morning, you remember everything? Or did you get blackout drunk? Because I'd say it was awesome.” Ray sat up and stretched a little.

“Nah i’m good, no holes, just could use some advil or another drink”, he let his hand drop away from his face. Ray grabbed a glass of water from his nightstand and handed it to him.

“No Homo bro?” he said laughing lightly holding out a fist.

Rust laughed and completed the fist bump ,”All the homo dude”, He got up, taking the advil then going to take a shower.

“By the way,” Ray called out, “If ya wanna do that again sometime, when neither of us have a boyfriend or shit, I'm totally game.”

“Sounds like a plan!”, Rust called back.

Most of the kids were still asleep, Ryan included, passed out in his favorite chair, conveniently near where Tiger and Lullaby had hunkered down. Lullaby was taking a bath in one of the bathrooms closest to her room, trying to shake her dream and get her emotions under check before Ray decided to do a scan on everyone's emotional state. The warm water helped, baths were like magic. She got out and dressed by time most of the Gents were up and about. 

“What’s for breakfast Papa Geoff?”, She asked in a cheery voice.

“Bacon and eggs my dear, bacon and eggs.” He was very happy and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well?”

She shrugged and that was answer enough. It took another hour for Ryan and the rest of the lads to wake up, the rest of Team CHIT still sleeping. Ray and Rust came down stairs together and the original Gents and Lads started planning their first wedding heist. Rust gave them any and all information they needed, having been part of or present during much of the planning. He could tell them everything that was going to happen right down to the minutes, he was always good at observation and information gathering.

“Alright so it looks like we're doing this. This is going to be fun. So I have a good plan if you're up for some dramatic distraction Rust?” Geoff had a great idea.

“What’s your plan G man?”, He looked at Geoff. Geoff nodded in approval of the nickname. 

“Alright, so we all sneak in the back dressed as the catering company, and when it comes time for the objections, you show up and act like you're drunk off your ass and object to everything, tell them everything you told us yesterday. Trust me, you'll feel better if you do. While you're doing that, we'll be stealing all the presents and whatever other expensive shit we can. Then when we're done, Lil’ J and Lindsay will drag you away apologising for your drunken state and escort you to us. Then we drive like hell and celebrate.” Geoff looked satisfied with the brief summary of the basics. Obviously there would be guns and shit just in case, but they seriously doubted any blood would have to be spilled today. Rust sighed at the having to spill his guts from the second time but agreed it was the best plan they had.

“Also, insult her dress. Don't question it, just do it. It is so freeing.” Jack added in, not sharing how he knew that, other than a mumble of “ex-wife”. Rust didn’t question it, he trusted Jack enough to leave it at that.

After that they got everything together, costumes and props, loaded everything up and left for the scene. Rust let everyone set up and get in place before uncapping the half drunk bottle of tequila Lullaby had let him use, took a swig for courage and smell and blinked inside the church, just it time for the priest to call for objections. He started ranting and raving about how much he hated Rob, how betrayed he was, how ugly his bride’s dress was (it was freeing), slurring and stumbling around. He kept going on and on, even when Rob tried to go at him to get him to shut up, giving the crew plenty of time and cover to get everything. He eventually threw the bottle at the bride, firmly ruining the dress, smug smile on his face, proud of his work. It really boiled Rob’s blood but he was in front of family, he couldn’t let loose and Rust knew it.

That was when Lil J and Lindsay showed up. “Whoa buddy calm down! You don't want security to throw you out do ya?”, Lil J was tugged on his arm, as Lindsay showed up dressed as a security guard.

“Too late for that, Sir, please come with me. I'd rather not have to arrest someone at a wedding.” she pretended to be heartbroken over this turn of events.

“You’ll never take me copper! This bastard broke my heart”, He slurred and hiccuped for good measure, stumbling and falling flat on his face, before letting out a loud drunken wail. Lil J and Lindsay grabbed his arms and dragged him away with his head down, hiding his shit eating grin. “Amazing acting bro, sad no one else got to see it.” Lil J commented. 

“Don't be so sure, if i know Ray, he's got eyes everywhere. Definitely a camera someplace.” Lindsay knew because Ray always asked her for some small wireless cameras from her surveillance equipment.

“Awesome, can’t wait to see it! Hopefully Lullaby won’t be too pissed I wasted her alcohol”, He shrugged.  

“That was  **not** a waste dude! You improved the dress with that!” Lindsay hated frilly over the top shit, she was a woman of simplicity, that's why she chose this life after all. 

Rust laughed, he liked Lindsay. When they got back to the van they tore out of that parking lot like the cops were on their tail, wheels squealing, everyone making a commotion over the successful heist. When they got home they open their new presents and divided it up.

The last two days of the students vacation were rather uneventful, Rust settling into his new home and getting to know everyone more personally. He even applied to become a teacher at Haven to help keep an eye on the kids. Lullaby didn't want to say goodbye again and gave her dad the tightest hug she could, andthe same for the rest of the Gents. Zachie chose to speak to his mother and father alone for quite awhile before rejoining the group. Griffon looked upset and worried, while Geoff seemed both sad and proud, but no one would talk about what happened. Though Zach seemed certainly different, no one could really pinpoint how. 

It didn't take long for them to get back to school and settle in. Classes started up the next day and Lullaby was doing better than before, paying attention more, the aiming harder, growing a little distance from Ray and closer to Tiger. They had a few more missions with a few more on campus breaks, Hemlock made small attempts to court Ray, not hiding it and openly staking her claim to which Lullaby resigned herself to it. This was their new normal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ALLTHEHOMO2016


	5. I Didn't Plan for This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes on their first solo mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here, have a chapter early.  
> Tumblr's of writer:  
> http://mirthfulbaker.tumblr.com/  
> http://felice-jaganshi.tumblr.com/  
> 

The teams had a large mission assignment up, they were simple mission like all the others but this would be the first without a teacher babysitting them. They were excited and ready to prove themselves, they were only allowed to pick missions with low Grimm densities. Tiger picked out a simple cleaning job, meant to clear out a small area so work could be done again. The area had only recently had issues and was perfect for a training mission. The team packed and readied themselves, Lullaby made sure to let Rust know where her team was going in case something went wrong.

Team CHIT was sitting ready to go an hour before their transport would arrive, they would be gone for at least a week if things went right. Team GRMZ came to see them off, Zach made Cherry promise to come back alive, as he did before every mission. Hemlock gave Ray a kiss on the cheek asking him to wish her luck, which he did give Team CHIT a wish for good luck. Lullaby said they'd be back in no time and that there was nothing to worry about. Michael pulled Tiger aside to talk to him.

“Tiger, I have a bad feeling about this… It just feels wrong, like a bad deal. I wish I could tell you to back down, to stay here, but that's not how this works… So, don't let your guard down. If things get bad, call me, call Ray, call Rust, anyone! Just don't you dare try to take it on by yourselves if shit gets bad.”

“Don't worry small bear! We’ll be fine! Lullaby already told Rust where we will be heading! Everything will be okay!”, he patted the young man on the back. Michael nodded, thinking he was probably just being paranoid.

The boys had to leave to get to class before their transport arrived, late. The team climbed aboard and said goodbye for now to their temporary home and school. They had to do an air drop due to the Grimm presence. The first thing they did was secure the perimeter, then they began to plan how they would move, when and where they would rest, duties and guard order. After the planning was finished they set out.

The first two days went as easy as they thought it would be, only one thing bothered them, the packs were either getting bigger, or there were more of them. They weren't worried, if there was truely any unexpected dangers the school would respond, or at least Rust would. They had to take more breaks than usual on the third day.

“What the hell is going on with the Grimm? Why are there so many?”, Lullaby was the first to voice her concerns.

“It's probably just the area we're in, higher concentration, that's all, once we get through here it'll thin out and it'll be a cakewalk!”’  Tiger did his best to reassure his team.

They quickly wrapped up their break and as far as they can tell, Tiger was right, it did start thinning out and it put the team at ease. They set up camp in an abandoned shop, the door had been busted in and the windows broken, but the back room was secure. They spent the night there, the team taking two hour shifts each. The next morning as soon as they packed up and set out they were knee deep in Grimm. They barely had time to stop and replenish their aura, the team was starting to worry, this only made thing worse.

The more worried they got the more Grimm they fought and the less time they had to rest. They were taking a beating, it wasn't looking good was all Hemlock could think, there were too many, if they didn't do something soon they were all goners. Hemlock got a stupid idea, one she knew would buy her team time to retreat and recover a little, but she needed to do something first. Her eyes locked on Lullaby and fought her way over, they attacked back to back gaining a little breathing room.

“Hey Lulls…. I need to get this off my chest, I’m going to buy everyone some time and you all need to retreat when I do”’ she was talking loud enough for everyone to hear before dropping her voice so only Lullaby could hear ,”I'm sorry for trying to steal Ray”

With that she ran into the area with the largest group of Grimm, touching, burning, killing as many as she could. If she was poison then she might as well be poison who saved her friends lives. They couldn't believe what Hemlock was doing but it was too late to stop her, they followed her last wish and retreated, till the pain started. Tiger and Cherry could only feel a fraction of it but Lullaby could feel every tooth and claw as if it was her own skin it was all she could do to not cry out, Tiger had to carry her and then it started to fade till there was nothing. There was no Hemlock, there was just Cherry, Tiger and herself, she knew, they knew.

They didn't have time to mourn, not yet, soon the Grimm would be on them again. They rested while they could, Cherry gently brushed his fingers over Zach’s feather. They sat in defensive triangle, backs to each other, weapons still drawn, Cherry and Lullaby treated what wounds they could till they heard the roar. Trouble was on its way again, they could keep running but the Grimm were faster. They wouldn't get very far, so they made another stand.

Cherry was starting to hit his limit, he was losing his grip on his string, even the easiest Grimm to control were becoming difficult. He refused to give up though, he made a promise, he had to get back to Zach, he had to get back, Griffon had more she wanted to know about him, he had to get back, he had to get back. Without warning his string disappeared, he wasn't going to make it back. Tiger saw and quickly took care of the released Grimm heading for Cherry. His hand flew to the feather, he knew he wasn't making it out alive, at least he made the most of his short life. He had adventure, he had love, he had family and friends, the least he could do was make sure Lullaby got home safe, she had the most life to live. As if Tiger read his mind, he went wild, killing as much as he could, keeping as many Grimm away from them as possible. Cherry could feel himself crying, but he accepted this, he took off his necklace, spun a thin wire barrier, it'd give him a minute for goodbye.

“L-Lullaby”, She didn't look, she was to worried about the the foes around them until Cherry put the necklace on her ,”L-Lullaby, y-you're going to need that luck more than I am”

“Cherry no! You ca-”

He interrupted her ,”Tell Zach that I love him… A-and that I tried, O-okay?”, he smiled through his tears as Tiger came running, picking up Lullaby, a thin thread, a small suggestion from Cherry in place. “T-Thank you for allowing me into your life and your world, t-this is goodbye… For now”

Lullaby fought as hard as she could against Tiger, it doing nothing. She saw an explosion of threads and wire coming from the once timid boy. She hoped that any second Cherry would come running towards them, saying he was just being dramatic but the strings faded and disappeared almost as quickly as he had summoned them.Then they hit, Lullaby went through the pain of dying once more.

All Tiger could do was hold her and run, he went back to the safest and easiest defendable position he could think of, the abandoned store. He barricaded the door, in the back, to buy time. He looked at Lullaby, he could see despair and grief in her eyes. Tiger pulled her close and held her, trying his best to convince her, and himself, that they were going to make it and that help was on the way.

It was peaceful and quiet for an hour before they heard a crash near by. Tiger readied himself, aura fully replenished, he'd survive and protect Lullaby as he promised her father. He told Lullaby to get in the corner and stay there, if it came to it he could cover and use his own body as a shield. There was sniffing outside the barricaded door, then slamming and clawing. It was starting to give, he took his stance, he was out of grenades but the blade wasn't broken.

The door gave almost without warning and he swung, connecting with a Beo wolf that quickly disappeared, leaving him a clear sight to the horde that waited after. He kept swinging with each surge of Grimm that tried to get through the doorway. It wasn't doing any good though, for each Grimm he slaughtered it seemed that there were two more in its place. He was starting to get tired but kept swinging, until he missed, sword firmly lodging itself in the door frame. Tiger was left wide open to attack, causing Lullaby to cry out when the claws struck. Tiger quickly resorted to the human shield plan, throwing himself over Lullaby. The pain was unbearable, how could Tiger stand it all. Lullaby could only scream in pain till her voice gave out, even then she started to notice, Tiger wasn't regenerating as quickly, chunks and cuts were starting to stay. Lullaby panicked until they heard it, explosions and the sound of dying Grimm. The attacks suddenly stopped, the attention being drawn to their attacker.

“T-Tiger you were right! Just hold on, help’s here, just hold on!”, she cupped his face, looking into his tired eyes, forcing her broken voice to work ,”You have to live Tig, if we both make it out of here I promise, I'll give you a chance, o-okay, just hold on!”, He was regenerating so slowly, he was so tired, he was in so much pain but he was holding on.

The fighting had died down behind them and footsteps approached ,”Tiger? You alive? Where’s everybody?”, It was Rust, Tiger used what little strength he had left to move enough out of the way so Rust could see Lullaby and grab her.

He quickly sized up the situation, took Lullaby and called in a medical evacuation for Tiger, giving exact coordinates. He started carting Lullaby out, blinking as fast as he could away, much to Lullaby’s protest. She clawed at Rust and trying to tell him she couldn’t leave Tiger then suddenly he was gone. His pain was gone just like that, she had lost her whole team, she hadn't been able to help them. She stopped fighting and went docile in Rust’s arms, cupping Zach’s feather in her palms.

Rust didn't bother with the gate, tripping the alarm. He stood in the front room as the gents came running, they all froze when they saw Lullaby. She was covered in blood, staring into space, eyes dull and distant.

“Most of it isn't hers…”, Rust handed Ryan his daughter ,”I'll be back… I'm sure the boys will be home within the hour…” With that Rust headed to Haven, not bothering to treat the wounds Lullaby had inflicted while fighting against him. His first stop was to Team GRMZ, he didn't give details, just that Team CHIT’s mission went wrong and Lullaby was home and needed them. Rust then went to report it to school officials.

Ryan had just finished cleaning his little girl up and retreating her wounds when the lads got home. Lullaby wasn't responding to anything, he had tried everything, the most she would do is look at him with that blank stare.

Ray tried to use his semblance to take some of her pain, but it wouldn't work, he couldn't bear the pain and emptiness of her damaged mind.

“Lulls…” He cried, unable to do anything else.

Michael and Gavin tried to do stupid shit to cheer her up, to make her see that they were there for her, once again didn't respond. Zach tried to warm her with his wings, while Ryan held her, kissing her forehead and making soft cooing noises like he did whenever anyone was crying. Lullaby’s dull eyes landed on Zach, some part of her registered he was there, her hands finally dropped from the feather around her neck, a few tears spilling from those dead eyes.

“Lulla?” Zach was surprised, “Wh-why do you have Cherry's feather?” They had all assumed the others members of her team had been sent to their families, but realization began to dawn on them. They now saw what Ray had seen when he tried to read her. Ryan held her tighter, but Zach’s brain refused to accept what he was seeing. “Where's Cherry? He has to be fine, he promised. He has to come home, Mom said… I…” He ran out of the room, seeking his mother's arms. No one bothered to stop him. Ray laid his head on Lullaby's lap, still crying on the floor.

The next day it was all on the news, with a report that only the remains of two bodies had been found, Rust gave the official report saying the bodies were being released to the families of the students. The bodies were identified as Cherry Kepler and Hemlock Dominguez. Iris Haywood was identified as the only known survivor and the body of Tiger Meadows has yet to be found. Rust came home after all the press and paperwork had been done. He had the release forms for Hemlock’s body ,”Turns out we’re the closest she had for a family. There's going to be a ceremony next week held at the school for families and friends”, he sighed heavily ,”How’s she holding up? And Zach?”

“Zach’s been better but Lullaby… She isn't eating or drinking… Ryan won't leave her side… If she doesn't snap out of it soon we’ll need to take her to the hospital..”, Jack scratched at his beard, no one had gotten much sleep the past night. Rust went over to the couch, they all thought it better to keep her in an open area so she could be easily watched and checked on. He ruffled Lullaby’s hair, her head tilted towards him.

“You're strong kiddo… You gotta spring back from this…”, he smiled at her.

Another day passed with no change from Lullaby, everyone was starting to lose hope. Lullaby had fallen into a fitful sleep, jolting awake in the early evening. She looked around scared and confused. Last she could remember she was in the field with her team, the rest was a dark haze. It only took seconds for it all to return, her team was dead, Rust had saved her, she was home. She couldn’t stop it, she started crying out unable to control any of her emotions, she clung to her father, the pain and sorrow bearing down on her in full. Ryan held her, it was a welcome surprise to finally see movement and reaction from his little girl. She was loud, her voice raw, she didn't care, her team was dead, Cherry was dead, Hemlock was dead, Tiger was dead, they were all dead. She was the only one to survive, they all gave their lives to protect her. It hurt so much, why did she get to live while they died, what made her life better than theirs?

The sudden commotion startled everyone and they came rushing into the room. Lullaby just continued to cry, she calmed down to sniffles and quiet sobs a little while later. Gavin and Michael tried again to get her attention, distract her, get anything from her. She managed a slight smile before breaking down again, but that's all they needed. Her eyes were full of tears and life again and she responded to them, that's all they needed. It took a while but eventually Lullaby did stop crying and fell into a more peaceful sleep. She continued to sleep for almost a full day, blinking awake a short time after sunrise, she rubbed at her eyes before trying it get up, she felt weak and shaky. She was determined to talk to Zach, knowing he lost Cherry as well. Zach didn’t know his last words and maybe that would help him some she thought, not bothering to hold back the quiet tears that sprung from his memory.

She carefully got up and headed for the stairs, using the walls and furniture for support. Lullaby lightly knocked on Zach’s and when she got no reply she knocked a little harder. When there was still no response, she cracked open the door and peered in.

“Z-Zach?”, she called out quietly, not really being able to do much more. She saw he was still asleep and backed out for a second, changed her mind then went over and hugged him. His wings ruffled and one folded over her, he slowly woke up, the room too dark to see.

“Cherry?” He was still half asleep, he had been dreaming of his dead boyfriend. Zach hadn't left his room in days only opening it for the food Jack left outside out of worry, he didn't want to see anyone.

“No… It’s just me… Your door was unlocked….”, She shook her head and tried to pull away. When she heard his name it was an automatic trigger for tears and guilt, she didn’t really expect him to wake up.

“Lulla? You're awake?” He held her closer, starting to wake up. “I missed you.” His voice was hoarse and crackly, he had been crying non-stop, pulling at his feathers and sitting in the dark all the time Lullaby was “asleep”.

“I-I’m sorry….”, her voice was quivering ,”I didn’t notice… He put it on me… He said I needed the luck… Hem was already gone… I wouldn’t of… But he had Tiger….”, She was trying to put everything into a cohesive statement, trying to tell Zach what happened ,”I wouldn’t of let him…. H-he told me… H-he wanted me to tell you… H-he said he loved you… H-he said he tried…. I wouldn’t of let him….”

Zach put his hand over her mouth to make her stop. He couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to, so he tried to use actions. After she was silent he rolled over so her head lay on his chest and wrapped her in his wings while he cried. He didn't want her to leave or feel guilty, he just wanted to hold his little sister close and mourn the loss together. He pet her hair and puppy ears. She easily got the message he was trying to relay and held on to him. Lullaby let herself cry once more till she felt at least a little better, and even then she didn’t try to move from his warm embrace. After she was done crying she sniffled and finally notice a clear difference and tried to sit up feeling his chest.

“You're not wearing your binder”, she sounded stuffed up and quite, confused and curious, she looked at him.

“Long story sis.” He almost laughed, he didn't want to think about the tragedy anymore, not for awhile anyway. He was burnt out on sadness. “I'm even more special than before now.. If you want to know about it, but… Let me see the charm for a minute. I'll show you.”

She looked at the feather, taking it off and gave it back to him ,”It is yours after all… But could I keep it once you’re done showing me?” He sat up in the bed and had her sit across from him.

“Yeah, I'd like that. But first I need to fix it, see how it looks all crumpled and broken and covered in blood?” He held it in his hands, and tried to summon the power while waiting for her response. Lullaby nodded, eyes turning dark at the mention of the blood. Zach's eyes suddenly started glowing around the edges and his hair seemed to float a little. His hands glowed and the feather floated in between them, slowly repairing and becoming vibrant and new again. Then he drew the power back, handing her the feather, and looking even more tired. She looked at the feather in awe of her brother’s power before putting the feather back on and looked at him.

“You look like you could use some more sleep…”, She gave a weak smile ,”Want me to let you get some rest?”

“No, I don't want you to leave. I… Let's go downstairs together. You look like hell and I feel like hell. But you're not at all curious about this power?” He was trying to distract himself from thinking about Cherry and the others, and trying to distract her as well.

“I am, but i’m more worried about how long i’ve been out… The stairs were a bit of an obstacle… How about you tell everyone at the same time so you don’t keep repeating it?”, Lullaby offered.

“I'd offer to carry you sis, but I'm too weak myself. Let's call a couple of super heroes to our aid yeah?” He forced a small smile, she nodded and tried to call out for their “heroes”.

Her voice was still not to loud but carried in the quiet house ,“X-Ray and Vav! We need you! We need brave strong heroes! Heeeelp!”

The two boys came crashing into Zach's room seconds later, the hall light illuminating their silhouettes perfectly.

“What's the emergency?!” Vav called heroically before he noticed Lullaby was awake, Ray didn't hesitate to run over and almost tackle her in a hug.

“Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you even know what would happen if I lost you?”, He was smiling, happy to have heard her voice again. Gavin followed suit tackling Zach almost completely off the bed.

“You bloody wanker! Don't you dare lock me out like that again! I've had enough of being the helpless one!” He gave his brother a good solid noogie, hoping to get the message through.

Lullaby gave a weak laugh ,”S-sorry to worry you… But hey, Zach and I are getting better now, but there’s a slight problem”, She paused ,”The stairs, I barely got up here and I don’t trust myself to get down them without falling”, She already figured out they weren’t going to tell her how long she was out.

“X-Ray and Vav are on the case! Mi’Lady.” Ray said as he picked her up and carried her down The stairs. Vav and Zach following behind. Jack was in the kitchen with Geoff, they both looked like hell, worried about their kids. Geoff had actually stopped drinking entirely, refusing to touch a drop until both of them were back to normal.

“Hey Papa Geoff, you look worse then me”, Lullaby joked half-heartedly. Geoff’s head shot up out of his hands immediately, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

“Jack, I think I've finally gone insane from sobriety.” Jack smacked his arm,

“You're not hallucinating, she's awake, and Zachie’s finally down too.” Jack walked over and checked on Lullaby, “are you alright? Do you need anything? Anything you want I'll get it.” He planned to pamper her like a queen for the next month or so.

“Water and anything home cooked is fine… And I haven’t missed their funerals right? I wasn’t gone that long”, She left the seriousness for the Gents. Jack shook his head.

“No, not yet. It's been less than a week, and we agreed to pay for their funerals if they’d wait for you and Zach. It's not like we're hurting for money”, He went to get her some water and prepare some kind of soup that would be easy for her to eat and help rehydrate her. Geoff was hugging Zachie and Gavin crying hysterically about having his boys back. Rust came into the kitchen, not having bothered to get dressed after rolling out of bed.

“What’s all the commotion about?”, He yawned looking around the room and smiled when he saw the two downstairs ,”Now I get it, welcome back to the land of the living!”

“What happened to you?”, Lullaby noticed his face and shoulder were clawed up.

“You did actually, on the way home, and I have some news for your sad little mind, Tiger was never found”, He smiled.

“Really?”, She looked to everyone ,”But… I felt it….” She looked down.

“Maybe you ran out of aura kiddo, you guys were fighting for a while”, He went and ruffled her hair and she batted away his hand ,”But it’s something ain't it”

Lullaby let Ray set her down before accepting the glass of water and drinking from it, thinking.

“But why would he just wander off? It doesn't make sense.” Zachie had to be the voice of logic and reason here. Rust shrugged, glaring slightly at Zach, he was trying to give Lullaby a little hope even if it might be false.

He grabbed a bowl of cereal ,”The school’s having a ceremony at the end of the week for their families, it’s not the funeral but it’s something the headmaster’s insisting on, she also wants you there too”

“Okay”, she nodded.

Ryan quickly came down the stairs and into the kitchen, he looked scraggly as fuck, his hair a mess and overgrown stubble on his face.

“Where's Lullaby? She wasn't- oh my god.” He whispered as he suddenly saw her standing there. He walked over and hugged her again. “My baby's back. Daddy's never letting go again, I promise. I love you so much.”

“I love you too Daddy, I promise I won’t be going away like that again, I’m sorry for worrying you”, She hugged him back and held on for dear life. Michael finally got out of bed.

“It's fucking three in the morning! What the fuck is with all the goddamn noise?” He was a little grumpy ball of brown curls.

“Hey Mogar, did ya miss us?” Zach smiled at him, still tired from everything and being smothered by his dad.

“Michael, good morning”, Lullaby was still enjoying her dad’s embrace but made sure to greet the bear. He scowled, but it was just for show.

“When the fuck did you wake up, and how come none of you cocksuckers came to get me? Party foul assholes!” He punched Gavin, Zach, and Ray in the arm and lightly tapped Lullaby.

“I only really ‘woke up’ this morning and we didn’t want to wake anyone because no doubt you’ve all been worried sick and could use as much rest as possible”, She smiled at him.

The rest of the day was full of recovery, everyone constantly checking to make sure Lullaby and Zach were okay. Jack trying was to get Lullaby to eat at every chance he saw. Ryan still wouldn’t leave Lullaby, no matter how much she insisted he should go clean himself up. All of the attention was nice but suffocating, she couldn’t even stop to think properly, which was also part of the point she guessed. She was glad when Rust asked her to go on a walk with him and quickly took him up on the offer. Once Lullaby agreed Rust blinked out of there before Ryan or any of the others could even say they were going as well.

They walked to the river, Rust gave her free rein of the conversation and let her use him as support. She choose to stay quiet for the most of the walk, at one point talking about looking forward to meeting everybody's family. Rust told her that they were  the only family Hemlock’s had. They returned about an hour and a half later, Lullaby looked more tired than when they left but more at peace. Things started calming down in the evening since everyone was gaining confidence that Zach and Lullaby weren’t going to slip away again, the Gents were still hovering though.

“Hey guys, I have something to tell you. Dad, can you gather everyone you trust with this?” Zachie was ready to mention his new powers. Geoff nodded and gathered only the Lads and Gents, including Rust. Lil J and Lindsay were still too new to be included for something this major, they were B team. Lullaby sat next to Zach.

“What’s up Zach?”, Rust’s interests were definitely piqued.

“Well it's hard to explain… But I met someone last summer and they did something to me… and now I'm different…” He struggled to find the right words. So he started over.“Do you all remember that story about the seasons dad would always read when gav and I were little?” Gavin perked up,

“Oh i remember that one! What does that have to do with anything? What did that person do to you Zachie?” Everyone remembered that story, Rust’s expression became a little more serious.

“ Well, that story is true. I met an old woman who called herself the ‘spring maiden’ and we became friends. But then she… died recently… I don't want to go into details, but now I have their powers.” He really wanted to show everyone but wasn't sure how they would react.

“Oh, so that’s how you fixed the feather right, with you ‘maiden powers’?”, Lullaby asked

He nodded, “Kinda, basically think of spring. What comes to mind? Life, Rebirth, Healing, Change, Transformation, the spring breeze, plants growing. I can do and control all of those now, including altering my body. I have actual guy parts now, and it's been the most amazing thing ever! And I can't do much yet, but from what she showed me, with time, I can basically become a demigod.” He took off his shirt to show he wasn't bluffing or anything.

Rust smirked ,”Very nice”,

Most of it Rust decided to take with a grain of salt, most of it a little complicated for him. Jack went to make dinner, still trying to wrap his head around everything, cooking giving him time to think. He’d talk to Geoff and Griffon later. Ryan kept watching Zach, now being able to clearly see everything that had changed, it clicking in his head. The boys were happy for Zach and settled in to play some games. Lullaby took to laying across the four of them, head in Ray’s lap. Dinner was just like the old days, just with two new members. Rust took some time to distract everyone in retelling some of his best hunts, cutting parts out about Rob or cursing his name at each mention. After dinner they all relaxed and celebrated, breaking out the alcohol. Lullaby choose not to partake in any and instead continued to hydrate with water. When everyone started heading to bed Lullaby knew she didn’t want to be alone, she asked Ray if she could sleep with him, and how could he deny her?

The next morning started off on an unexpected foot. Later that day they would be heading to the school but Geoff was awoken by someone knocking on the bedroom door before first light.

”Hey Geoff, you might want to see this.”, It was Lindsay.

“Fuck a dick.” He cursed to no one as he tried to untangle himself from Griffon and Jack's limbs without waking them. He succeeded, and made his way to the door, finding a pair of boxers along the way. He he opened the door after he put them on. “This had better be important, is someone dieing?” Lindsay held out a cup of coffee to him first. She had been here long enough to know there was an order to things, like don't throw important shit at your boss’ face before he's had at least one or two cups of coffee. He gladly accepted the bitter liquid, taking a long sip.

“It’s the camera’s out front, something's blocking gate, it's pretty big, might be a person, might be a pile of trash, didn't move when I tried talking to it”, she had stepped away for only a minute, when she came back the shape was there, it was still to dark out to make anything else out.

“Alright, well, send someone with a super long stick to poke it or something. I'm too tired for this shit.” He grumbled his way downstairs, Lindsay knew exactly who to “send out with a stick”.

“You got it boss man”’, She went to wake Lil’J, gave him his stick and told him what to do. Lindsay went back to her camera’s to watch from a safe distance, ready to raise the alarm if something were to happen.

Lil’J made his way out to the gate and started poking the cloth lump before a large hand quickly snatched the stick away.

“What?”, The voice had an edge of irritation, but the two newer members recognized it.

“Shit… That bastard was right”, Lindsay muttered opening the gate.

Little J backed off as the large man stood, dwarfing him. He looked to the mansion in front of him, pausing a minute before walking towards it. Lindsay hit the alarm, just long enough to wake everyone up, knowing that she'd get grief for it later but it was the quickest way to get everyone up.

Lullaby came flying out of Ray’s room, running on fight or flight instinct. She didn't even slow when she got to the stairs and ended up tripping, tumbling part of the way down before getting caught.

“You've got to be more careful little lady”, Her head snapped up, eyes going wide.

“Tiger!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ALLTHEHOMO2016


	6. This is the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the families meets, children mourne, and the future is set

Lullaby almost couldn’t believe it, she wouldn’t of either, if she weren’t in his arms, if she couldn’t feel his warmth, but here Tiger was. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, his eyes softened and smiled. Lullaby’s shock and joy quickly faded, rage filling in it’s place, she started to growl.  
“You bastard!”, She started wailing on him ,”I thought you were dead! All you had to do was fucking lay there and you would of been fine! you would of been taken to a hospital! Taken it easy for a few days! no but you thought wandering off was better! Why the fuck did you do that! I hate you! You’re not getting fucking shit now-”  
He stopped her, pulling her into a tight hug ,”I’m sorry”  
“You better be fucking sorry!” Ray screamed, suddenly running down the stairs. “Do you have any idea how fucked shit got?! And you weren't there to help. You said you cared about her, then left her when she needed you most. I will never forgive you for that.” Ray’s face became dark and deadly, remembering he had the training to kill this dude if needed.   
The rest of the lads showed up soon after, all equally as surprised and angry, unwilling to trust this man after such a betrayal. He was back at square one as far as they were concerned.  
“What excuse do you have for this?” Zach said without any emotion for once, only somewhat willing to hear his side of the story. Gavin tried to pull Lullaby out of his arms so he and Michael could hold her. Tiger let her go, knowing that he had a lot to explain, something he'd rather not do. He had no excuse prepared either, so he fumbled with a half truth.  
He sighed ,” It was more habit than anything… I know it doesn't explain anything like that and I'm not off the hook yet, but it’s something I've got to handle on my own” , He paused occasionally thinking over his words, he knew what he was saying might piss them off more but he didn't feel like he could explain more then that. Michael and Gavin refused to even acknowledge the man's existence. Zach shook his head and sighed, while the human of the team scoffed at him and walked back up stairs.  
“I'm going to bed, wake me when it's an actual decent hour or if I'm needed to take out some trash.”   
“What sort of explanation is that! That's not anything!” Lullaby was back to trying to hurt Tiger.  
“It’s not, I can explain things better after I handle everything.” He was calm and quiet.   
“That's not how this shit works.” It was Geoff this time, standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the landing they were all gathered on. “There are no secrets in the Fake Achievement Hunters Crew. But then again, I guess you aren't a true member. You have zero respect for our way of life, that much I could tell from day one, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”  
Tiger shifted, ”... It's more between my father and I… He’s given me everything I'd need to survive… On the condition that if there is a situation where my semblance allowed me to live, I basically made sure I still died one way or another … Habit was just to continue that… Keep ‘dying’ and restarting somewhere else while he cleans up loose ends”  
Michael finally spoke up, “ Join the fucking club daddy issues. Ray and I both had fathers that did horrible shit to us, that's why we fucking left them and joined the Crew. So if you're gonna be a dipshit and stick with an abusive prick and do as he says, you don't deserve pity. You've been offered a new home, dude. Don't disrespect that.” He spoke from the heart for once.   
“Why did you think I came back, I'm done playing his game. I know he'll be around for the funeral and any other event involved with it. I'd like to confront him before the funeral though and be able to give Cherry and Hemlock the respect they deserve”, He smiled.  
“The schools holding something for the friends and families today, not exactly ideal but if your fathers gunna be there it's the best time before the funeral”’ Rust yawned.  
Lullaby had heard enough, she was tired of this emotional roller coaster and she followed Ray upstairs. Lullaby knocked on Ray's door before cracking it open.   
He opened his eyes and moved over for her to join him. Her face lit up accepting his invitation and cuddling into him and settled in for a nap for the emotionally draining day ahead.  
An hour before the crew were going to head out they woke the sleeping two. Lullaby grudgingly got up to get ready, not wanting to leave and not wanting to face Cherry’s family. She decided to wear a plain black dress, Hemlock’s hairband and Cherry’s feather. Once she was ready she headed downstairs where everyone was waiting. The boys all wore the black suits Geoff had bought them for these sorts of occasions. Zach wore a charm bracelet Cherry had given him when they had first started dating. Geoff handed Tiger a suit he had sent Lil J to get a few hours ago.  
“No member of the crew, even a rookie in training, should be without a black suit. We need to look classy and united after all.”   
“Thank you sir”, Tiger left to go change coming back shortly. He wore it well, his demeanor changed as well, to fit someone who was raised wearing them. Even Rust was in his own suit, although he looked rather uncomfortable in it. Ray made a comment on his appearance however.  
Lullaby looked to make sure everyone was ready before she turned to the door and started their trip to Haven. The walk seemed longer than before.   
Lullaby was the first to enter the room, freezing when her eyes fell on an older looking women. She looked just like Cherry, clearly his mother. She was trying to keep two smaller children in check, not noticing the newcomers. Tiger roused Lullaby from her frozen state gently pushing her forward into the room so everyone could enter.  
“Mama, look a giant!”, One of the small children was pointing at Tiger. Suddenly all eyes were on the crew.  
Zach kept his eyes on the ground, he couldn't bear to look at any of them. Lullaby looked around, it was only them, Cherry’s mother, and siblings, the headmaster and a large man and a women. Lullaby took a deep, shaky breath then walked towards Cherry’s mother.  
“Ms. Kepler, I’m Lullaby, I was on Cherry’s team. I wanted to say that Cherry was a very brave and selfless man, I wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for him. I also wanted to say Cherry was very happy before our last mission”, Lullaby had tears in her eyes but was holding it together. Ms. Kepler was a mess and crying by time Lullaby finished. The children were worried about their mom and hugged her, Lullaby didn't hesitate to either.  
“My son! You're alive!”, The man who had been quiet in the corner suddenly called out and walked towards Tiger with open arms. They could recognize him as Richard Meadows, head of communications at the nearby tower, Richard hugged his son urging him to the corner where he had been. Tiger let him and they began quietly talking, but all kindness his father had quickly melted. Tiger was becoming visibly more agitated the longer they were talking. Richard had yet to let go of Tiger either, his knuckles going white from how tight his grip was. Geoff took this moment to walk over,  
“ Hey, you must be his Father? Heard a bit about you. Mind letting go of the kid, he's had a rough day.” Geoff took a swig of his flask, showing the symbol of the Fake AH Crew to Richard.  
The man visibly stiffened but didn't release his son ,”W-who the hell are you? This has nothing to do with you! This is between my son and I!”  
“Yeah, no. I don't do that bullcrap. Richard right? I'm just gonna call ya Dick, because you are. Ya see, Tig here has already agreed to put his services in my hands. Meaning while you may be his Father, I'm his Dad now. Because you're a shitty one. Come on my boy, come stand with your brothers.” He looked straight into Dick’s eyes, refusing to turn his back to him until his new son was with the rest. Tiger made quick action of removing Richard’s hand, with an audible snapping of fingers.  
“Thanks Geoff”, he headed back over to the rest of the gang. The little boy came running up to them, still amazed at Tigers size but now noticing the winged twins.  
“Are you guys superheroes?”, he asked them.  
Gavin and Ray jumped into action.  
“We are the superhero duo, X-Ray and Vav!” they yelled together, striking a stupidly cool pose. Zach kneeled down to the child's level,  
“Yep, and I can grant small wishes. Anything ya want kiddo?” He whispered.  
The kid’s face lit up ‘Does that mean you can bring back my brother?”  
Zach frowned, “that's a pretty big wish little one… I can only do small stuff like summon flowers and make good luck charms. Anything else?”  
The kid looked down thinking before his face lit up again ,”Do you know any Angels?”, he pulled out a crumpled letter ,”Cherry said he fell in love with an angel and promised I could meet them!”  
Zach blushed brightly, “well actually I uh…. You're looking at them little one… that's why I can grant wishes.”  
The little boy gasped ,”Wow you're prettier than Cherry said!”, he stuck out his hand ,”I'm Sandy! Do angels always hang out with superheroes?”  
He laughed a little, “actually the other one with wings is my twin. It's nice to meet you Sandy, can I hug you?” He held out his arms for a hug. He missed Cherry very much, so getting to meet his little brother tore at his heart a little, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Sandy smiled and hugged Zach. Ms. Kepler came over, Lullaby following, carrying the little girl.  
“Hello”, She gave a soft smile.   
“Hi there.” Zach said, his eye starting to water a little.   
“I'm Freesia, Cherry’s mother, I see you've already met Sandy, and this is his sister Luna”, She looked to Lullaby, Luna whispered something in her ear, she seemed just as shy as Cherry had been ,”I wanted to thank you all for looking after my son while he was here…”  
“N-no problem… I just- I did my best. Hi there little one, so you're Luna? Hold on, I think I have something here for ya.” He wiped away the tears and stood up, turning around to look into his back, actually just hiding his suddenly glowing eyes as he did a little Spring magic on a seed he had in there.   
“There is is!” He turned around holding out a rather large cherry blossom, it seemed to almost glow. “Here… it'll last forever.”   
Freesia started crying again ,”Thank you”  
“Thank you”, Luna took it, smiling.  
Once things had calmed down more, the headmaster called everyone's attention ,”Thank you all for coming, I know you are all grieving but Haven Academy would like to give you all of our condolences, and do not worry about your children’s funerals. The generous Ramsey family has offered to cover all of the expenses”, Freesia looked at Geoff, gratitude clear on her face through her tears, Sandy hugged his mom. The headmaster stepped down after letting them know that everyone could stay as long as they would like. Richard left promptly after that, cradling his broken hand. The headmaster came over to Geoff and his boys.  
“Should I get the paperwork for your students to officially drop out? Or will any of you be staying? Occurrences like these are rather rare but it is an occupational hazard”, she held herself in a proper manner.  
“ I don't think Lullaby will want anything to do with being a Huntress after this, the psychological impact is too much on such a young mind. But the other four will give you their answer.” He looked back at Team GRMZ, “What'll it be boys?”  
They all looked at eachother and nodded, Zach stepping forward as the leader he hated to be,“There's still much we can learn to protect the ones we love. We'll stay.”   
Lullaby may have tried a different path but her home was in the underworld and there she would stay, if Michael wouldn't come back then she would step up one day to lead The Fake Achievement Hunter Crew, she'd work with Tiger, Lindsay and Lil J till that day and grow stronger until that day came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is the end of Lullaby's story but keep an eye on the Fake AH Crew of Remnant, there may be more updates with the series itself.


End file.
